When the first congratulations were over, and Alfgar had somewhat recovered from the excitement of the shock, and from the congratulations which were heaped upon him upon all sides, he was told that Canute awaited him in the audience chamber, and at once repaired to the presence of his future king with less emotion than may be imagined; for he was worn out by sensation, and becoming callous to impressions.
He was formally introduced by the officer in waiting, and the king at once dismissed that functionary.
"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, we have met before," observed the monarch.
"We have, my lord."
"I did not refer to later occasions, when we have met on the battlefield, but to a far earlier one. Need I recall it? Surely there are some moments in one's life never to be forgotten."
"There are indeed, my lord. Pardon my confusion. You refer to a scene in Carisbrooke."
"Yes. When I asked you, 'What is this Christianity?' you had not much time given you to answer me then, but your deliberate choice of a bitter death, in preference to abandoning it, showed me there was somewhat deeper in it than I had imagined. Alfgar, there are seeds lightly sown which bear fruit hereafter, and your words were of such a character--so that I, your future monarch, owe you already a debt of gratitude, and I had come hither to fulfil it when you saved me the task by appealing to the ordeal. I for one had full faith in the justice of God. But had you not so appealed, I should have stepped in between Edric and his victim."
"You did not then, my lord, believe in my guilt?"
"Not for one moment. The lad who defied my unhappy father in the frantic fury of his power--the warrior I had seen fighting by the side of his king--the faithful attendant of many years?--Nay, it was monstrous; who could believe it?"
"Many, alas! found it possible to believe it, my lord. But who has been the murderer? You will not permit your brother's blood to fall on the earth unavenged."