hen he entered he saw the corpse in the chapel, where they had placed
it before the altar, and he could only say, "Alas, my lord! alas, my
dear friend!" until he knelt down to pray, and rose up somewhat calmed.

Then he sought the chamber where the lady Edith hid her woe, and there
he showed her that God was love, hard though it was sometimes for the
frail flesh to see it; and he bade her look to the Divine Sufferer of
Whom it is said, "In all their afflictions He was afflicted;" and so by
his gentle ministrations he brought calm to the troubled breast, and it
seemed as if one had said to the waves of grief, "Peace, be still."

And then he gathered the household to prayer, and while they prayed many
a "_Requiescat_" for the faithful soul, as they said the dirge
commending to the Fathers Hands a sheep of His fold, so they also prayed
for strength to see the love which was hidden behind all this sad, sad
visitation, and to know the meaning of the words "Though He slay me, yet
will I trust in Him."

And then he bade them rest--those, at least, who were able to do so--
while he watched by the body, as was then the custom, all through the
deep night.

And so the stars which had looked down from heaven so peacefully upon
the house of Aescendune the night before, of which we wrote, now looked
down as coldly bright as if no change had occurred, shining alike upon
weal or woe, upon crime or holy deed of saint. Yet as the kneeling friar
saw them through the chapel window, he thought they were but the golden
lights which lay about the confines of that happy region where the
faithful live in unspeakable felicity for ever with their Lord, and he
found consolation in the thought of the Eternal and the Infinite.

CHAPTER XVIII. THE BATTLE.

The early morn, as we have already seen, broke upon the adverse hosts of
Edwy and Edgar as the trumpet sounded to arouse them from their
slumbers, in many instances from the last slumber they should ever enjoy.

Every soldier was on his legs in a moment, and, in the first place,
preparations were made for breakfast: for it was a recognised fact
amongst our ancestors that if you wanted a man to fight or do anything
else well, you must feed him well first. So the care of the body was
never neglected, however pressing the danger.

Accordingly, Edwy called Elfric to sit by his side at the substantial
meal which commenced the day, and saw, with much pleasure, that the
cloud had partly pass