could bemoan her grief in quiet solitude, and be alone with her beloved
and God. There seemed no rest or peace possible in the hall, and Redwald
was apportioning all the accommodation to his followers as they came,
preserving only the private apartments of the lady Edith from intrusion.

She was still expecting the arrival of Elfric, for Redwald had not
communicated the news he had received, and she did not even know that
King Edwy had been defeated; so absorbed was she in her grief, that she
did not note the thousand little circumstances which might have told her
as much.

But before the hour of terce, Alfred came into the room where she was
seated with her daughter, and she saw by his troubled countenance that
he had something to communicate which pained him to tell.

"Elfric!" she said--"he is well?"

"He has not come yet, my mother; and I grieve to say that we were
deceived yesterday--deceived about the battle."

"How so?"

"The king was defeated; he has fled southward, and there has been a
great slaughter."

"But Elfric?"

"No one can tell me anything about him," said Alfred, wringing his
hands. "Mother, you must leave this place."