Harold : the Last of the Saxon Kings — Volume 09 eBook

The unfavorable impressions made upon his thoughts by Haco’s warnings could scarcely fail to yield beneath the prodigal courtesies lavished upon him, and the frank openness with which William laughingly excused himself for having so long detained the hostages, “in order, my guest, to make thee come and fetch them.  And, by St. Valery, now thou art here, thou shalt not depart, till, at least, thou hast lost in gentler memories the recollection of the scurvy treatment thou hast met from that barbarous Count.  Nay, never bite thy lip, Harold, my friend, leave to me thy revenge upon Guy.  Sooner or later, the very maneir he hath extorted from me shall give excuse for sword and lance, and then, pardex, thou shalt come and cross steel in thine own quarrel.  How I rejoice that I can show to the beau frere of my dear cousin and seigneur some return for all the courtesies the English King and kingdom bestowed upon me!  To-morrow we will ride to Rouen; there, all knightly sports shall be held to grace thy coming; and by St. Michael, knight-saint of the Norman, nought less will content me than to have thy great name in the list of my chosen chevaliers.  But the night wears now, and thou sure must need sleep;” and, thus talking, the Duke himself led the way to Harold’s chamber, and insisted on removing the ouche from his robe of state.  As he did so, he passed his hand, as if carelessly, along the Earl’s right arm.  “Ha!” said he suddenly, and in his natural tone of voice, which was short and quick, “these muscles have known practice!  Dost think thou couldst bend my bow!”

“Who could bend that of—­Ulysses?” returned the Earl, fixing his deep blue eye upon the Norman’s.  William unconsciously changed colour, for he felt that he was at that moment more Ulysses than Achilles.

CHAPTER III.

Side by side, William and Harold entered the fair city of Rouen, and there, a succession of the brilliant pageants and knightly entertainments, (comprising those “rare feats of honour,” expanded, with the following age, into the more gorgeous display of joust and tourney,) was designed to dazzle the eyes and captivate the fancy of the Earl.  But though Harold won, even by the confession of the chronicles most in favour of the Norman, golden opinions in a court more ready to deride than admire the Saxon,—­though not only the “strength of his body,” and “the boldness of his spirit,” as shown in exhibitions unfamiliar to Saxon warriors, but his “manners,” his “eloquence, intellect, and other good qualities,” [194] were loftily conspicuous amidst those knightly courtiers, that sublime part of his character, which was found in his simple manhood and intense nationality, kept him unmoved and serene amidst all intended to exercise that fatal spell which Normanised most of those who came within the circle of Norman attraction.