The sword-bearer, knowing that Lord Hereward allowed not of such massacres, and wishing not to irritate Girolamo by a refusal, did some violence to his conscience and sense of truth, first by nodding his head as if in assent, and next by saying that the prisoners should assuredly rue the atrocious deed which had been done. [But these words were truer than Elfric had reason to think they would be; for while he was in the wood some of the fen-men, having no longer any commander with them to control their wrath, beat and wounded the prisoners, and dispatched some of them outright.] When the Salernitan spoke again he said, “Elfric, leave not my body here to be tracked and outraged by the accursed Normans. Get it carried to Ely and see it interred like the body of a Christian man. And, Elfric, sprinkle a little holy water over my grave, and go there at times to say a De profundis for the peace of my soul!”
Here the sword-bearer said he hoped the hurt was not so bad but that some skilful leech might cure it.
“Alas, no! not all the leeches between this and Salerno could do me any good. Dear Salerno! shining bay, bright sky, blue hills, I shall never see ye more! I lived but for the hope of that, and for vengeance upon the Normans! My life hath been a life of woe, but I have done them some harm, thank God for that! But it is over.... I grow faint. Oh, that some godly confessor were at hand to shrieve me!”
“Shall I run into Brandon and seek a priest,” said the sword-bearer; “or shall I send one of these our true men into the town?”
“No, Elfric, thou must not leave me in my last agony, and there is no time for sending and seeking. But, Elfric, undo my collar, and unbutton this hard mail-jacket, and bring out the silver crucifix, which I received from my mother, and which hath never been from my neck—no, not for a second of time—during these last forty years. Elfric, I have kissed that silver crucifix openly, and in despite of the accursed ravings of Jews and Saracens, upon the very spot where our Lord was crucified! Elfric, that little cross was round my neck, held by the same silver chain to which my mother hung it, when, sailing between Cyprus and Palestine with turbaned infidels, the bark went down in deep water, and every soul perished, save only I! Kind Saxon, it was my faith in that cross that saved my health and life in Alexandria, when pestilence raged throughout the land of Egypt, and depopulated Alexandria, and all the cities of Egypt! Let my dying lips close upon that cross:—and, good Elfric, as thou hopest thyself to die in peace, and to be admitted into the dominions of the saints, see that chain and cross buried with me,—round my neck and upon my breast, as they now are! And take and keep for thyself whatever else I possess, except this sword, which thou wilt give in my name to the Lord of Brunn. Dear boy! the Normans have not left me much to give thee ... but I had broad and rich lands once, and horses of high breed and price, and rich furniture, and sparkling jewels brought from the Orient by the Amalfitans!”[[231]]
While the dying Salernitan was thus speaking—his voice ever growing fainter and fainter—the sword-bearer gently and piously did all that he had been required to do, undoing the collar, and unbuttoning the coat of mail which the Salernitan wore under his loose mantle of woollen cloth, and bringing out from beneath the under-vest the silver crucifix, and placing it in the feeble right hand of the Salernitan, who then kissed it and said, “Mother dear, I shall soon be with thee! Oh, heavenly Mother, let my soul pass easily from this hapless body!”
Here Elfric, who had been well indoctrinated in the days of his youth by the best of the monks of Spalding, crossed himself and said, that it was God himself who had enjoined the forgiveness of our enemies, and that holy men had ever declared that the moribund died easiest when he forgave all the wrongs that had been done him, and died in peace with all mankind.
Girolamo had to gasp for breath before he could speak; but at length he said, “Saxon, I die in peace with all mankind, or with all that profess the Christian faith—save only the Normans. I forgive all men as I hope to be forgiven. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine; yea, I forgive all and die in peace with all, save only the detestable ungodly Normans, who have heaped upon me such wrong as cannot be forgiven, and who have belied the promises made at their baptism, and who be Christians but in name. Elfric, remember! they slew my kindred and all the friends of my youth, or they caused them to die in sickly dungeons or in exile and beggary; they surprised and stole from me the young bride of my heart and gave her over to violence and infamy! Elfric, wouldst ever forgive them if they should thus seize and treat thy Mildred?”
Elfric shook his head as though he would say he never could; but albeit Elfric was not dying, he ought not to have done this. Girolamo’s head was now falling on his breast, and he several times essayed to speak and could not. At last he said to Elfric, who was kneeling by his side, “Tell the Lord Hereward that I die his constant friend, and call upon him to avenge my death! Elfric, put thine ear closer to my mouth.... So ... and Elfric, go tell the monks at Ely that I am not the Jew that cannot die!”
Here the sword-bearer, who was supporting the Salernitan with his right arm, felt a short and slight shivering, and raising his head so as to look in his face, he saw that the eyelids were dropping over the dark eyes,—and, in another brief instant, Girolamo was dead.