Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XV.

  A MEETING BY THE RIVER.

  During the three days that elapsed between Ulf's being set upon the trackof Walter Fitz-Urse and the departure of the king for the North, the boyhad no news to report to Osgod. The young Norman had not left the bishop'spalace alone. He had accompanied the prelate several times when he wentabroad, and had gone out with some of his countrymen who still held officeat the court. In one or other of the disguises Wulf had suggested, the boyhad hung about the gate of the bishop's palace until late in the evening,but Walter Fitz-Urse had not come out after dark. On the day beforestarting, Wulf was with Osgod when the latter met the boy at therendezvous.

  After he heard Ulf's report Wulf said: "As we leave to-morrow this is thelast report you will have to make to us. So far it would seem that there isnothing whatever to give grounds for suspicion, and if, after a few days,you find that the Norman still remains quietly at the bishop's, there willbe no occasion for you to continue your watch until the time is approachingfor the king's return."

  "Yes, my lord. But I cannot say surely that he does not go out of anevening."

  "Why, I thought you said that he certainly had not done so?"

  "No, my lord; I said only that I had not seen him. He has certainly notgone out through the great gates in his Norman dress, but that it seems tome shows very little. As the bishop's guest he would pass out there, butthere is another entrance behind that he might use did he wish to go outunobserved. Even at the main entrance I cannot tell but that, beneath thecowl and frock of one of the many monks who pass in and out, WalterFitz-Urse may not be hidden. He would scarce go about such a business as wesuspect in his dress as a Norman noble, which is viewed with little favourhere in London, and would draw attention towards him, but would assume, asI do, some disguise in which he could go about unremarked--it might be thatof a monk, it might be that of a lay servitor of the palace."

  "You are right, Ulf; I had not thought of that. That is indeed adifficulty, and one that I do not see how you can get over. Are you surethat he has not passed out by the main gate?"

  "I have marked his walk and carriage closely, my lord. He steps along witha long stride, and unless he be a better mummer than I judge him to be, Ishould know him whether in a monk's gown or a servitor's cloak. It is noeasy thing to change a knight's stride into the shuffle of a sandalledmonk, or the noiseless step of a well-trained servitor in a bishop'spalace."

  "You are a shrewd lad indeed, Ulf," Wulf said warmly; "and I feel that youwill fathom this matter if there be aught at the bottom. But, as you say,you cannot watch more than one place."

  "The other entrance is not altogether unwatched, my lord. The first dayyou gave me my orders I went to one of my cronies, who has shared with mein many an expedition when our master deemed that we were soundly asleep.Without, as you may be sure, giving any reason, I told him that I had cometo believe that the Norman I pointed out to him was in the habit of goingout in disguise, and that I was mightily curious to find whither he wentand why, and therefore wanted him to watch, at the entrance behind thepalace. I bade him mark the walk of the persons that went out, and theirheight, for the Norman is tall, and to follow any who might come out oflofty stature, and with a walk and carriage that seemed to accord ill withhis appearance. So each evening, as soon as his house was closed and thelights extinguished, he has slipped out, as he knows how, and has watchedtill ten o'clock at the gate. It seemed to me that that would be lateenough, and indeed the doors are closed at that hour."

  "You have done well, Ulf; but has not the boy questioned you as to yourreasons for thus setting a watch on the Norman?"

  "I have told him nought beyond what I have said, my lord. He may guessshrewdly enough that I should not myself take so much trouble in the matterunless I had more reason than I have given; but we are closely bandedtogether, and just as I should do, without asking the reasons, any suchaction did he propose it to me, so he carried out my wishes. I cannot feelas sure as if I had watched him myself that Fitz-Urse has not passed out indisguise unnoticed, but I have a strong belief that it is so. At any rate,my lord, you can go away with the assurance that all that is possible shallbe done by us, and that even if he pass out once or twice undiscoveredthere is good hope that we shall at last detect him."

  After again commending the boy, Wulf returned to the palace with Osgod.

  "I feel half ashamed of having entertained a suspicion of Fitz-Urse on suchslight grounds, Osgod."

  "I think you have done quite right, my lord. You know how the fellow gave afalse report to the bishop of that quarrel with you. At any rate, shouldnothing come of it, no harm will have been done. As to the boys, so farfrom regarding it as a trouble, I feel sure that they view it as anexciting pleasure, and are as keenly anxious to detect the Norman going outin a disguise as you yourself can be. When they get tired of it they willgive it up."

  Ulf, at any rate, was determined not to relax his watch during the absenceof the king. The more he thought of it the more certain he felt that ifWalter Fitz-Urse went out on any private business after nightfall he woulduse one or other of the entrances at the rear of the palace, andaccordingly next day he arranged that one friend should watch the frontentrance of an evening, while he himself took post behind. As soon as itwas dark he lay down by the wall close to the entrance at which theservitors generally passed in and out. The moon was up but was still young,and the back of the palace lay in deep shadow; a projecting buttressscreened him to a great extent from view, while by peeping round the cornerhe could watch those who came out and see them as they passed from theshadow of the building into the comparatively light space beyond.

  Many came in and out. The evening was bitterly cold, and his teethchattered as he lay, cautiously putting his head beyond the edge of thestonework every time he heard any one leaving the palace. The heavy bellhad just struck eight, when a man wrapt up in a cloak passed out. Hediffered in no respect from many of those who had preceded him, save thathe was somewhat taller. The hood of the cloak was drawn over his head. Ulfraised himself to his knees and gazed after the figure. The man was walkingmore slowly than the others had done, for most of them had hurried along asif in haste to get their errands finished and to be in shelter again fromthe keen wind.

  "If that is Fitz-Urse, he is walking so as to avoid the appearance of hastein case anyone should be looking after him," Ulf muttered to himself. "Atany rate I will follow him, he is more like the Norman than anyone I haveyet seen, though he carries his head forwarder and his shoulders morerounded." As he watched him, the boy saw that as he increased the distancefrom the palace the man quickened his pace, and when he came into themoonlight was stepping rapidly along.

  "That is my man," Ulf exclaimed. "He knows well enough that no one islikely to be standing at the door, and thinks he need no longer walkcautiously." Feeling sure that even if the man looked back he would not beable to see him in the shadow, he started forward at a run, paused beforehe reached the edge of the moonlight, and then, as soon as the figureentered a lane between some houses, ran forward at the top of his speed.The man was but a hundred yards in front of him when Ulf came to theentrance of the lane. Just as he turned into it the man stopped and lookedround, and Ulf threw himself down by the side of a wall.

  "That settles it," he said to himself. "No one who had not a fear of beingfollowed would turn and look round on such a night as this."

  Ulf was barefooted, for although he generally wore soft shoes which werealmost as noiseless as the naked foot, he was dressed in rags, and a footcovering of any sort would have been out of place. Always keeping in theshade, having his eyes fixed on the man he was pursuing, and holdinghimself in readiness to leap into a doorway or throw himself down should hesee him turn his head, he lessened the distance until he was within somefifty yards of the other. The man took several turns, and at last entered along street leading down to the river. As soon as Ulf saw him enter it hedarted off at full speed, turned down another lane, and then, when he gotbeyond
the houses, and on to the broken ground that lay between them andthe river, ran until he was nearly facing the end of the street which hehad seen the man enter, and then threw himself down.

  He had scarcely done so when he saw the figure issue from the street andstrike across the open ground towards the water. Crawling along on hisstomach Ulf followed him, until he halted on the bank. The man looked up anddown the river, stamped his foot impatiently, and then began to walk to andfro. Presently he stopped and appeared to be listening; Ulf did the same,and soon heard the distant splash of oars. They came nearer and nearer. Ulfcould not see the boat, for it was close under the bank, which was sometwenty yards away from him, but presently when the boat seemed almostabreast of him the man on the bank said, "Where do you come from?"

  "From fishing in deep water," a voice replied.

  "That is right, come ashore."

  The words were spoken by both in a language Ulf could not understand, andhe muttered a Saxon oath. The thought that any conversation Fitz-Urse mighthave with a Norman would naturally be in that tongue had never onceoccurred to him. Three men mounted the bank. One shook hands withFitz-Urse, the others had doffed their caps and stood listening bareheadedto the conversation between their superiors. It was long and animated. Atfirst the stranger stamped his foot and seemed disappointed at the newsFitz-Urse gave him, then as the latter continued to speak he seemed moresatisfied.

  For fully half an hour they talked, then the men got into the boat androwed away, and Fitz-Urse turned and walked back to the palace.

  Ulf did not follow him. The meeting for which Fitz-Urse had come out hadtaken place, he would be sure to go straight back to the palace. Ulf laythere for some time fairly crying with vexation. He had done something, hehad discovered that Fitz-Urse was indeed engaged in some undertaking thathad to be conducted with the greatest secrecy; but this was little to whathe would have learned had he understood the language. His only consolationwas that both Wulf and Osgod had likewise forgotten the probability thatthe conversations he was charged to overhear might be in Norman.

  Had Wulf still been in London he could have gone to him for freshinstructions, but he had started at daybreak, and the king's party wouldassuredly ride fast. There was no time to be lost. These men had a boat,and probably came from a ship in the port. Were there really a conspiracyagainst the king they might sail north and land in the Humber, though itseemed more probable that they would wait for his return, for on hisjourney he would be surrounded by his housecarls, and there would be farless chance of finding him alone and unguarded than in London. Had it beentheir intention to sail at once for the North, Walter Fitz-Urse wouldprobably have rowed away with them without returning to the palace. At anyrate it was too important a matter for him to trust to his own judgment,and he determined to take counsel with his master.

  He had not been near the forge since he had begun the search, and wassupposed to have gone down to stay with his family, who lived near Reading.He had hidden away his apprentice dress beneath some stones in a field halfa mile from Westminster, and he presented himself in this at the forge inthe morning.

  "You are back sooner than I expected, Ulf," Ulred said as he entered. "Idid not look for you for another week to come. Is all well at home?"

  "All is well, master; but I have a message to deliver to you concerningsome business."

  The armourer saw that his apprentice wished to speak to him in private. Heknew nothing of the reason for which Osgod had asked him to release the boyfrom his work at the forge for a time, but had quite understood that thewish to pay a visit to his family was but a cloak, and that the boy was tobe employed in some service for Wulf. Guessing, therefore, that the messagewas one that should be delivered in private, he bade the boy follow himfrom the forge and took him into the room above.

  "What is it you would say to me, Ulf? Mind, I wish to hear nothing aboutany private matter in which you may be engaged either by Wulf or Osgod.They are both away and may not return for a month or more. I judged thematter was a private one, as Osgod said nought of it to me."

  "The matter is a private one, master, but as they are away I would faintake your counsel on it."

  The armourer shook his head decidedly. "I can listen to nought about it,boy. It can be no business of mine, and unless he has given you license tospeak I would not on any account meddle with the affairs of the youngthane, who is a good lord to my son."

  "That he has not done, sir; but I pray you to hear me," he added urgentlyas the armourer was turning to leave the room. "It is a matter that maytouch the safety of our lord the king."

  The armourer stopped. "Art well assured of what you say, Ulf?"

  "For myself I can say nothing, master, but the young thane told me that hehad fears that some attempt or other might be made from the other side ofthe sea against the king's life, and that although he had no stronggrounds, he thought that Walter Fitz-Urse, who had just returned here,might be concerned in it, he having reasons for enmity against the king.Therefore he appointed me to watch him."

  He then related the scene he had witnessed on the river bank the eveningbefore.

  "It is a strange story indeed, Ulf, and whatever it may mean, this meetingcan have been for no good purpose. The secrecy with which it was conductedis enough to prove it. It is indeed unfortunate that you did not understandwhat was said, for much may depend upon it. Well, this is a grave affair,and I must think it over, Ulf. You have done well in telling me. Has anyplan occurred to you?"

  "I thought that you might accompany me, master."

  "That would I willingly, but though I have picked up enough of their tongueto enable me to do business with the Normans at the king's court when theycome in to buy a dagger or to have a piece of armour repaired, I could notfollow their talk one with another. We must obtain someone who can speaktheir language well, and who can be trusted to be discreet and silent. Why,were it but whispered abroad that some Normans are plotting against thelife of the king, there would be so angry a stir that every Norman in theland might be hunted down and slain. Do not go down to the forge, I willtell my wife to give you some food, and you had best then go up to theattic and sleep. You will have to be afoot again to-night, and it were wellthat you kept altogether away from the others, so as to avoid inconvenientquestions. I will come up to you when I have thought the matter over."

  "Is aught troubling you, Ulred?" the armourer's wife asked when breakfastwas over and the men had gone downstairs again to their work. "Never have Iseen you sit so silently at the board."

  "I am worried about a matter which I have learned this morning. It mattersnot what it is now. Some time later you shall hear of it, but at present Iam pledged to say no word about it. I want above all things to find one whospeaks the Norman tongue well, and is yet a true Englishman. I have beenpuzzling my brains, but cannot bethink me of anyone. Canst thou help me?"

  "Except about the court there are few such to be found, Ulred. If Wulf ofSteyning had been here he could doubtless have assisted you had it been amatter you could have confided to him; for Osgod said that although hehimself had learned but little Norman his master was able to talk freelywith the Norman nobles."

  "Ay, he learnt it partly when a page at court. But what you say reminds methat it was but yesterday afternoon his friend Beorn came into my shop. Hehad just arrived from his estate, and said how disappointed he was atfinding that Wulf had left London. I will go to the palace and see him atonce. I know but little of him save that I have heard from Osgod that he isWulf's firmest friend, and they fought together across in Normandy andagain against the Welsh. He has been here several times to have weaponsrepaired, and knows that Osgod is Wulf's man. I wonder I did not think ofhim, but my thoughts were running on people of our own condition."

  Ulred at once put on his cap and proceeded to the palace, where he foundBeorn without difficulty.

  "You have not come to tell me that the blade I left with you yesterdaycannot be fitted with a new hilt, Master Ulred? It is a favourite weaponof
mine, and I would rather pay twice the price of a new one than lose it."

  "I have come on another matter, my Lord Beorn. It is for your private ear.May I pray you to come with me to my house, where I can enter upon itwithout fear of being overheard?"

  "Certainly I will come, Ulred, though I cannot think what this matter maybe."

  "It concerns in some way the Thane of Steyning, my lord, and others evenhigher in position."

  "That is enough," Beorn said. "Anything that concerns Wulf concerns me, andas he is in the matter you can count on me without question."

  Upon reaching his house Ulred left Beorn for a moment in the room upstairs,and fetched Ulf down from the attic.

  "This is an apprentice lad of mine," he said, "and as it is he who has beenemployed by the Thane of Steyning in this affair, it were best that hehimself informed you of it."

  When Ulf had finished his story Beorn exclaimed, "I will go at once, andwill put such an affront upon this Walter Fitz-Urse that he must needs meetme in mortal combat."

  "But even if you slay him, my lord, that may not interfere with thecarrying out of this enterprise, in which, as we know, another of equalrank with him is engaged."

  "That is true, master armourer, and I spoke hastily. I thought perhaps itwas for this that you had informed me of the matter."

  "No, my lord; it seemed to me that the first thing was to assure ourselvesfor a certainty that the affair is really a plot against the king's life,of which we have as yet no manner of proof, but simply the suspicionentertained by my son's master. The first necessity is to find out for atruth that it is so, and secondly to learn how and when it is to be carriedout; and this can only be by overhearing another conversation between theplotters. As you have heard, Ulf could have learnt all this if he had butunderstood the Norman tongue. Could I have spoken it well enough to followthe conversation I would not have troubled you, but it seemed to me that attheir next meeting it needed that one should be present who could speakNorman well. After considering in vain how to find one who should at onceknow the Norman tongue and be a true and trustworthy Englishman, mythoughts fell upon you, of whom I have always heard my son speak as thecompanion and friend of his master, and I made bold to come and lay thematter before you, thinking that you might either take it in hand yourselfor name one suitable for it."

  "Certainly I will take it in hand myself," Beorn said, "and right glad am Ithat you came to me. A matter in which the king's life is concerned I wouldtrust to no one but myself. And now, how think you shall we proceed? forit may well be that these plotters may not meet again for some time, seeingthat the king is away."

  "So it seems to me," the armourer said; "and, moreover, they may in theirtalk last night have appointed some other place of meeting."

  "What think you, Ulf?" Beorn said, turning to the boy. "Wulf would nothave chosen you for this business had he not had a good opinion of yourshrewdness; and, indeed, you have shown yourself well worthy of hisconfidence."

  "I should say, my lord, that I must go on the watch as before. It is mostlikely that the Norman will, sooner or later, go out in the same disguiseand by the same way as before, and that the hour will be between seven andnine in the evening--most likely between seven and eight, in order that hemay return from the meeting before the bishop's doors are closed for thenight."

  "I will keep watch with you, Ulf. Were I sure that the meeting would takeplace at the same spot as before you should show me where they landed, andI would lie down there in readiness, but as they may meet elsewhere, itseems to me that I must post myself by your side."

  "It would be better, my lord, if you would take your place on the otherside of the open space, for although I, being small, can escape notice, youmight well be seen by those approaching the door. It will be necessary,too, that you should put on sandals of soft leather or cloth, so that yourfootfall should not be heard. Then, as I follow him, I would run to whereyou are posted, and you could follow me, so that you could keep me in sightand yet be beyond his view, for all our plans would be foiled should hesuspect that he was being followed."

  "I will do as you advise. Come with me now and we will fix upon a stationto night, and afterwards you may be sure of finding me there betweenhalf-past six and ten. Should you wish to see me at any other time you willfind me at the palace; I will not stir out between eight and nine in themorning. I must say I wish it were warmer weather, for a watch of threehours with the snow on the ground--and it is beginning to fall now--is notso pleasant a way of spending the evening as I had looked for when I camehither."

  Beorn went out with Ulf, and they fixed upon a doorway some twenty yardsfrom the street down which the Norman had before gone.

  "We must hope he will go by the same way," Beorn said, "for should he turnto the right or left after issuing from the gate he will have gone so farbefore you can run across and fetch me that we may well fail to pick up histrack again. It were well if we could arrange some signal by which youwould let me know should he so turn off. It would not do for you to call orwhistle."

  "No, my lord; but I could howl like a dog. He would but think it some curlying under the wall I might howl once if he turns to the right, twice ifhe turns to the left, and you could then cross the ground in thatdirection, and I could meet you on the way without losing sight of him forlong."

  "That would do well, Ulf, if you are sure you could imitate the howl of adog so nearly that he would not suspect it."

  "I can do that," Ulf said confidently. "I have used the signal before withmy comrades, and to make sure will go out to the fields and practisedaily."

  A month passed. Harold was still away in the North, and complete successwas attending his journey. The influence of Bishop Wulfstan, who wasgreatly respected throughout the kingdom, did much, but Harold himself didmore. His noble presence, his courtesy to all, the assurances he gave ofhis desire that all men should be well and justly ruled, that evil-doers ofwhatever rank should be punished, that there should be no oppression and noexaction of taxes beyond those borne by the whole community, won the heartsof the people. They were, moreover, gratified by the confidence that he hadshown in coming among them, and in seeing for the first time in the memoryof man a monarch of England in Northumbria.

  Ulf and Beorn had kept regular watch, but without success, and Ulf'scomrades had as steadily watched the other entrances. Beorn had two orthree conferences with Ulf. He was becoming impatient at the long delay,though he acknowledged that it was possible it had been arranged that nomore meetings should take place until it was known that Harold was about toreturn. The armourer was perhaps the most impatient of the three. He wasdoing nothing, and his anxiety made him so irritable and captious at hiswork that his men wondered what had come over their master. After frettingfor three weeks over his own inaction, he one morning told Ulf to go toBeorn and say that he begged to have speech with him. An hour later Beornreturned with Ulf.

  "I bethought me last night, my lord," Ulred said, "while I lay awakewondering over the matter, whether these fellows are still on board ship orare in lodgings in London."

  "It might be either, Ulred. I have frequently thought over the matter.Possibly they may have stayed on board their ship till she left, and thenhave come on shore in the guise of peaceful traders."

  "If the ship did not return at once they may still be on board," thearmourer said, "for the wind has blown steadily from the east for the lastfive weeks, and no ships have been able to leave the port. I blame myselfsorely that I did not think of it before, but at least I will lose no timenow if you think that good might come of it."

  "It would certainly be good if you could find either the ship or the housewhere the men are in lodging, but seeing that you know nothing of theirappearance or number, nor the name of the ship in which they came nor theport she sailed from, I see not how you could set about it."

  "I will first go to the port-reeve's office and find out the names of theships that arrived just before the time that the meeting by the river tookplace. She may
have come in early that day, or on the day before. Theywould surely send word at once to him that they had arrived."

  "You might learn something that way, Ulred, but we do not know that themeeting Ulf saw was their first."

  "That is true. But as Ulf's friend declares that he certainly had not goneout that way during the evenings that he had been keeping watch, it islikely that it was their first meeting."

  "That is so, Ulred; and at any rate it would be well that you should makethe inquiries, and that, while we are keeping our watch as before, youshould try to gather some tidings of the fellows in another way."