"And the monks are shut in by the Moors?" he said to me.
"My lord duke," I said, "they and all thy loyal people of Guernsey are near starving, and this vile Moor calls himself lord and master of the Norman seas."
"Does he?" said William. "Tell me more of Maugher."
"He speeds on the treachery. His devils are seen in the Sarrasin's castle. He hath twice sought my life on my way to thee. I have seen by our abbot's grace treacherous letters of his to King Henry, that your highness wots of. And yesterday I saw him at Coutances in disguise."
"At Coutances?" said the duke, near as I feared another blast of anger. And then, turning to a burly lord hard by, that I guessed soon, not from his bearing, but from Duke William's words, was his brother and councillor, Odo of Bayeux, he said, "Here, my lord, what thinkest thou of these letters?"
He gave him to read the parchment that I picked up from the turf. Odo read it slowly.
"It would seem," said he, "that this Sarrasin is grander than we thought."
"At this juncture he is dangerous," said William.
"Maugher is the danger," said Odo.
"Shall we strike at once?" said William.