"No, my lord; you need not really feel anxious concerning me.

"The hall of Aescendune appears a pleasant place for a summer
residence," he added.

"I have been there before," said the king. "Spent some weeks there. Yes;
I thought it a great change for the better then, after the musty odour
of sanctity which reigned in the palace of my uncle the monk, but all
things go by comparison. I might not relish a month there now."

"Yet it looks like a place formidable for its kind, and it might not be
amiss to persuade the worthy old thane to receive a garrison there, so
that if the worst came to the worst we might have a place of refuge,
otherwise the Mercians would soon have possession of it."

"Ella is one of themselves."

"But the rebel Edgar may not forgive him for entertaining us!"

"He can hardly help himself. Still, the smoke of those fires, which, I
trust, betokens good cheer; and the peaceful aspect of that party coming
out to meet us, in the midst of whom I recognise old Ella and his son
Alfred, Elwy's brother, does not look much like compulsion."

"Making the best of a bad bargain, perhaps."

"I prefer to think otherwise."

At this moment the two parties met, and Edwy at once dismounted from his