Such were commonly the only sleeping chambers,
but at Aescendune, as generally in the halls of the rich, a wide
staircase conducted to a gallery above, from each side of which opened
sleeping and sitting apartments allotted to the use of the family. It
was only in the houses of the wealthy that such an upper floor was found.
On the right hand, as they entered the courtyard, stood the private
chapel of the household, where mass was said by the chaplain, to whom
allusion has been already made, as the first duty of the day, and where
each night generally saw the household again assembled for compline or
evening prayers.[iii] On the left hand were domestic offices.
Upon the steps of his hall stood Ella, the Thane of Aescendune, the
representative of a long line of warlike ancestors, who had occupied the
soil since the Saxon conquest of Mercia.
He was clad in a woollen tunic reaching to the knee, over which a cloak
fastened by a clasp of gold was loosely thrown; and his feet were clad
in black pointed boots, while strips of painted leather were wound over
red stockings from the knee to the ankle.
"You are late, my sons," he said, "and I perceive you have brought us a
visitor. He is welcome."
"Father," said Elfric, in a voice somewhat expressive of awe, "it is
Prince Edwy!"
The thane had in his earlier days been at court, and had known the
murdered Edmund, the royal father of his guest, intimately.
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