Heroines of the Crusades

d her tender he

ld did run thr

ror all her s

that down she

's Fair

ome, they come

batta

eare's

ormandy were again summoned from their castles to attend the Conque

ly company of Normans attended her to the church, and a body-guard of Anglo-Saxons, among whom Agatha distinguished Edwin, conspicuous alike for the beauty of his person

the Danes-the flight of Edgar Atheling-the hostility of Malcolm, King of Scotland-the destruction of the city of York-the death of Aldred, its beneficent, and much loved bishop-the desolation of Northumberland-the laying waste the county of Hampshire-the confiscation of private property-and

ienated from his Saxon subjects; and when Earl Edwin demanded th

and murmurings and complaints succeeded to sadness and discontent, as month after month, and year aft

escort at Caen, excited a brief sensation of pleasure,

stle, beetling the sea, to woo fair Ulnah the Pearl of the Orkneys. The maiden, leaning spell-bound from the lattice, had yielded to the enchanter's song, and dropped a pale pearl upon the deck of the war-ship;

r hastily entered and summoned Agatha

mandate. None were present with the Conqueror in the audience c

ee pledge thy hand to Earl Edwin to secure the peace of England, instead of trusting that event to my good sword, hath long gri

the slight frame of Agatha, b

ride; ambassadors wait in the antechamber, and the good Lanfranc has consented to release t

ctively drew

proud Rebel. Bid thy maidens robe thee in apparel befitting thy rank, (certes, the Spanish diadem will well become thy jetty locks.) Even now a splendid convoy of vessels ride

ther spoke

er angrily, bending his brow upon her, with the terr

nd cold in a death-like swoon. But bitterly as Matilda wept over her suffering daughter, her heart was torn with still keener anguish, at the maledictions pronounced upon her first-born and favorite son. Robert had been betrothed in infancy to the heiress of Maine; a

nd to Maude, the beautiful captive, who had so long been the companion of

hou hast sacrificed the meek Agatha to the lust of dominion, but the gentle Maude shall never suffer from thy tyranny, while the sword of a

sword, the vicars of Christ have set its crown upon my head, and placed its sceptre in my hand,

rmandy and Maine, which all men say i

Absalom, and the misfortunes of Rehoboam, and

to sermons, but to claim the investiture which has been promi

as I live, I will not divide my native realm, Normandy, with another, for it is written

from Normandy, and seek justice from strangers, here I will no

ot to be borne, that he who owes his existence to me, should aspire to be my ri

in Flanders, and William to return to his distracted kingdom, whe

rigue and superstition, was a character naturally penetrating and i

narch. Bodesmen from the north, brought news of leagues and plots against his power, while messengers fr

m to England. The young prince was exceedingly fond of the chase,

e nature, by the sight of famishing wretches, vainly seeking food and shelter, brought on

e palace, when the distracted father, haunted by the piteous lamentations, and re

berlain, entering, and presenting him

hich much it grieves me to convey. When this comes to thee thou wilt know that thy sweet daughter, Agatha, liveth no more. From the day of our departure she shed no tears, but a tender wailing sound, like the moan of a wound

ut she never murmured; and on the eve of the blessed St. Agnes, having received the rites of

d of the stricken father and a

spoke. "Knowing, oh king! thy munificence to thy faithful servants, and moved by the love I bear thy throne and realm, I have discovered to Fitz Osborne the secret ha

s of Edwin, pale and distorted with the death agony, and the l

head of thy murdered lord? Ho! seneschal, convey this Judas to the lowest cell of the donjon. There shal

n his hands, and burst into t

e. What has this sceptre brought me? Toilsome days, and sleepless nights,-a divided household,-and children cut off in t

y from the floor, and wiping the clotted blood from its polished surface, with some di

pledge has

he battl

an angel m

me on he

hearted ma

to thee

well requi

g from t

rgetful of

n avert t

love-charm o

er could

own free w

alisma

s life no

that fa