Elgiva will be glad to see you."
Elfric returned to his father, but a feeling of sadness had taken
possession of him, an apprehension of coming evil.
The feast began; the clergy and the nobility of the land were assembled
in the great hail of the palace, and there was that profusion of good
cheer which befitted the day, for the English were, like their German
ancestors, in the habit of considering the feast an essential part of
any solemnity.
How much was eaten and drunk upon the occasion it would be dangerous to
say, for it would probably exceed all modern experience, but it seemed
to the impatient Edwy that the feast and the subsequent drinking of
pledges and healths would never end, and he was impatient the whole time
to get away and be in the company of the charmer.
An opportunity seemed at last to offer itself to his immature judgment.
Gleemen had sung, harpers had harped, but the excitement culminated when
Siward, a Northumbrian noble, who was a great musician, and skilful in
improvisation, did not disdain, like the royal Alfred, to take the harp
and pour forth an extemporary ode of great beauty, whereupon the whole
multitude rose to their feet and waved their wine cups in the air, in
ardent appreciation of the patriotic sentiments he had uttered, and the
beauty of the music and poetry.
During the full din of their heated applause, when all eyes were fixed
upon the accomplished musician, Edwy rose softly from his chair; a door
was just behind him, and he took advantage of it to leave the hail and
thread the passages quickly, till he came to the room where he had left
Elgiva, when he threw aside his royal mantle and all his restraint at
the same time.
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