"Never; but he will seek me here."
"Then thou must fly the country."
"Whither shall I go? are any of my father's band left?"
"Herwald, his successor, fell into the power of Brian, and we know not what was done with him; nor whether he is living or dead."
But Osric knew: he remembered the chest half filled with sharp stones and its living victim.
"One Thorold succeeded, and they still maintain a precarious existence in the forests."
"I will seek them; I will yet be true to my country, and avenge my kindred upon Brian. But oh, grandfather, he has been so good to me! I am his favourite, his confidant; he was about to knight me. Oh, how miserable it all is! Would I had never lived—would I were dead."
"He has been thy worst foe. He has taught thee to slay thine own people, nay, to torture them; he has taught thee—tell me, is it not true?—even to deny thy God."
"It is true, he has; but not intentionally."
"Thou owest him nought."