He entered, and gazed at Elfric for a moment without speaking, as if he
would read his very heart by his face; it was hardly comfortable.
"Elfric," he said at last, "do you remember the warning I gave you six
months ago?"
"No," said Elfric, determined, in desperation, to deny everything.
"I fear you are hardly telling me the truth; you must remember it,
unhappy boy! Why were you not warned in time? Why did you refuse the
advice which might have saved you from all this?"
"Because it was my fate, I suppose."
"Men make their own fates, and as they make their beds so must they lie
upon them; however, I have not come here to reproach you, but to bid you
prepare to return home."
"Home?--so soon?" said Elfric.
"Yes, you must leave tomorrow, when a messenger will be prepared to
accompany you, and to explain the cause of your dismissal from court to
your father, whom I most sincerely pity; and let me hope that you will
find leisure to repent of your grievous sin in the solitude of your
native home."
"Must my father be told everything?"
"I fear he must: you have left us no choice; and it is the better thing,
both for him and for you; he will understand better what steps are
necessary for your reformation--a reformation, I trust, which will be
accomplished in good time, whereat no one will rejoice more than I."
A pert answer rose to Elfric's lips, but he dared not give utterance to
it; the speaker was too great in his wrath to be defied with impunity.
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