“That is he!” said the Lord of Brunn, who at first took more notice of Geoffroy, nay, much more notice than he took of Ivo; “and I believe that if he were in better case, and a Saxon, and no Norman, he would not be a very dangerous rival.”
“Hereward of Brunn,” said Ivo, whose teeth were chattering with cold, if not with fear; “Hereward the Saxon, an[[147]] thou be he, bid thy churls draw us from this pool, and I will settle with thee the terms of ransom. Thou canst not wish that we should be smothered here; and if thou art a soldier, thou wilt not put to the sword two knights of name, who have been most unfairly entrapped by a set of boors.”
“Ivo Taille-Bois the Norman, an[[147]] thou be he,” said Hereward, “I wish neither to drown nor to slay thee by the sword; at least not at this present; but I would fain humble thy pride and arrogance, and give thee some reason to remember thy foul attempt to seize and force the will of a noble maiden whom thou believedst to be defenceless!”
“As for being entrapped by boors,” said Girolamo of Salerno, “thou art mistaken, oh Taille-Bois! in that, for I, thine equal, laid the trap into which thou art fallen.”
“And foul designs deserve foul traps,” said Elfric.
“I know not what design thou layest to my charge,” said Ivo. “I am true liege man to King William, the lawful heir of King Edward, of happy memory: the heiress of these lands is in the king’s peace, and under the protection of the primate Lanfranc; and I, the Vicomte of Spalding, hearing that there were troubles in these parts, was coming only to place the lady in security.”
“Aye, such security as the wolf giveth to the lamb,” said Hereward. “But Ivo, add not more guilt and dishonour to thy soul by lying! The intent of thy coming, and the object for which thou hast brought thy brother with thee, are as well known to me as to thyself. Ye Normans be all too talkative to keep a secret, and if King Harold had Saxon traitors that betrayed him, so have ye men in your camps and in your stations that think it no sin to betray you Normans. Have a heed to it, Ivo! and bethink thyself in time that all Saxons be not so dull-witted as thou imaginest.”
Geoffroy Taille-Bois, greatly encouraged by the Lord of Brunn’s assurance that death was not intended either by drowning or by the sword, spoke out as boldly and as clearly as the chattering of his teeth would allow, and said, “Saxon, methinks that thou talkest at an unfair vantage, and that we might settle the matter of ransom the sooner if we were on dry land.”
“’Tis well thought,” replied Hereward, “for I have small time to lose in parley. This is my wedding day, Sir Geoffroy. My bride, the Ladie Alftrude, is in the church, and the priest is waiting for me with open book at the altar. My humour is that thou and thy brother shall be witnesses to our marriage ceremony. Come, my good Saxons, drag me this pond, and pull out those big Norman fish!”
A score of Saxons instantly threw strong fishing-nets and coils of rope across the pool. The men-at-arms, seeing that quarter was to be given, gladly caught hold of the ropes, and so were landed; but the mention of the marriage, and of Hereward’s humour to have them both present at it as witnesses, had so filled the minds of Ivo and his brother with trouble and shame, that they caught neither at the ropes nor at the nets, seeming to prefer tarrying where they were to going up to the church. The Lord of Brunn waxed impatient; and making a sign to Elfric, that nimble sportsman threw a noose over the surface of the pool, and threw it with so good an aim that he caught Geoffroy round the neck; and then giving his coil a good tug, which brought the head of the unlucky rival of his master under water, Elfric shouted, “Come out, thou false Norman, come out, and to the wedding, or be drowned or hanged—I care not which.”