"Ah! I have a distinct remembrance of this," said Oswald, as the memorable scene at the Council, in York, presented itself to his mind. "I remember too well this traitor entering our assembly, under pretext of joining our ranks in opposition to the king; and I remember well, also, I met him face to face in combat next day, and 'tis a quarrel still unsettled, but which may be fought to the bitter end some day. Take heart, lady; some means will assuredly be devised for circumventing the purposes of this unscrupulous braggart, Vigneau. But if this should not be accomplished by human agency, I would fain think and hope, if the wisdom and the valour of man should fail, a kindly Providence has in store a happier lot for one so fair, so virtuous, and so good. Let us foster hopes of brighter days; these are troublous times, and one revolution of Fortune's wheel may bring momentous changes. Perhaps the asperities and hatreds of race, engendered by these cruel wars, may be soothed and healed again, and Saxon and Norman may be blended in one united people."
"Alas! can this ever be? My people seem drunk with greed and blood, and thy people given to fierce reprisals."
"This reconciliation does not seem as though it were near, truly, lady. Our peasantry have been massacred by scores. The more spirited of them have taken to outlawry, and would as soon take the life of a Norman as the life of a stag. We have also chieftains amongst us who have lost all, and live only for revenge; fierce and implacable, they cherish mad schemes of re-conquest, which are utterly futile. But all the same, it will be woe to the man who argues for peace in the Saxon witan in the presence of these implacable men."
"Is there anything I can do to soothe these hatreds?"
"You have begun well, and it seems marvellous to report, your deeds of mercy and kindness are being talked about through the countryside where Saxons meet together. These acts of kindness make for peace with mightier force than deeds of arms or years of a rule of force."
"But what is to be the solution of this race difficulty? Some of our people speak and act as though there were no solution but the extermination of all those who offer any resistance to their being reduced to villeinage the most abject."
"In a policy of force there is no other conclusion. If you were to take yonder sapling and tie its head down to earth, there would be unceasing resistance to the ignoble bond. And why? Because the Creator made it to be free, to rear its head aloft, contemporaneous with its fellows. The human spirit loves its freedom even better than yon sapling, and its resistance to all tyranny is eternal. Force may fetter it, but perpetual force will be necessary to keep it fettered. Mark me, lady, it is easier to talk of extermination than to effect it. I command at present a band of men who are the pick of my race for valour, who will defy thy people with impunity, and are capable of striking fierce blows of revenge in every unguarded moment. If ever the hour of thy nation's weakness should come, terrible will be the revenge, if some strong hand curb not the wild spirit."
"This unholy strife between our peoples is madness. How may we avert it?" said Alice.
"I confess, lady, that but a little while ago I had no feelings but those of undying hatred to thy race. But as I lay in that dungeon beneath the castle, an angel in human form, by an act of pure mercy, gave me liberty and life. 'Twas wonderful! The cold, frozen blood at my heart turned, at a stroke, to warmth. I felt that there is a passion of the human heart more potent than hatred, and some obligations more binding than an oath. Let those who do not love strife, but love mercy, work for mercy and reconciliation; and I think I see the day when there shall be such a blending of races that each shall be strengthened by the other."
"I shall welcome the day, Sir Knight. But had we not better return? Jeannette, I am afraid, will be in great trouble."