"Has this Saxon traitor completed his dishonour, by wedding a daughter of the Norman tyrant?" said he.
"Oswald has wedded the fair Norman, and I bestow my blessing on them, for 'tis the herald of peace to our downtrodden race, and an augury of the coming union of our people and the Norman."
"My curses on him and the coward brood of Saxons, who have betrayed their country and, by their submission to the tyrant usurper, have helped to rivet the fetters of bondage upon our race for generations to come!"
"My lord, this is most distasteful to me. I will hear no more of it. You are utterly incapable of understanding them or their motives, it is plain; so desist, once for all, from your unreasoning hatred."
"Whither go ye now, Ethel? and may I go with ye?" said Sigurd humbly.
"I am bound for the Monastery of Crowland, my lord."
"Monastery of Crowland! Never say it, girl! What do ye mean? Ye cannot go there, Ethel! Say ye will not go there, Ethel!" he shrieked, in agonised tones.
"It is quite true, my lord," said Ethel firmly.
"It cannot be, Ethel! Ye' cannot leave us thus! We are undone if ye leave us! Say ye will not go to Crowland! anywhere but there! I thought ye would now forget my fierce and boorish habits, and be my wife. Oswald is wedded, and ye cannot be his. What hinders ye from being my wife? I will be anything ye ask of me, Ethel! I am quite broken now; my spirit is broken. I will make my peace with the Normans, and wear a serf's collar, and let them whip me, cuff me—anything! only say ye will not leave me," he pleaded piteously.
"Alas! my lord, that can never be! My love is dead, and will never more have resurrection in this world. I have no capacity for a new affection. A maiden's heart can be won but once. Do not importune me, my lord, further. The end has come; 'tis a new epoch, and in it there is no place for you and me, and 'tis best we should quietly vanish from the scene."