“Dost know the family of the king?” inquired Ethelred of the maiden as they neared the dwelling of the thegn.
“I have met the lady Elswitha, and I saw her mother and children the night of the attack on Chippenham,” answered Egwina. “Hast thou?”
“Nay;” replied the youth. “My father was of the royal family of Mercia, and, when the pagans overran the country, perished by the sword. With him I should have attended the great Witan at Winchester this Easter, and thus have seen the king, and mayhap his family also. Tell me of the lady Elswitha.”
“She is fair and beautiful. Right worthy is she to be the noble Alfred’s wife, for bravely did she bear herself on the night of the assault.”
“Often have I seen Eadburga, her mother,” remarked Ethelred, “and her father also, Athelred the Large, for they were of Mercia. Elswitha I have not seen, for she married the king—he was the atheling then—before I was old enough to remember. Much have I heard of the present atheling and his sister. Marry, I would like well to meet with them.”
“Naught do I know of the atheling or his sister,” said Egwina. “There were only some young children with the lady and her mother.”
“And was there no youth of my age, nor maiden, near them?” queried Ethelred.
“Nay,” returned Egwina. “There were a youth and a maiden there that night, but not the atheling nor his sister. The lad was younger than thou, and the maiden older than I. It could not be they. Besides, I met this youth and maiden in Andred’s weald some time ago. See the ring that the maiden gave me.”
She extended her hand with the sapphire upon it.
“And thou art sure that it was not the atheling’s sister?” asked Ethelred as he examined the gem.