The eyes of Prince Edwin brightened at the words of Brithric, and he
grasped the arrow which he had in his hand with the air of one who
holds a sceptre. "Fie, Brithric," said Wilfrid, "how can you be so
treacherous to your royal master as to speak of him with such
disrespect, and to put such dangerous and criminal ideas into the mind
of Prince Edwin?"

"Peace, meddling brat," cried Edwin, angrily; "who asked counsel of
thee in this matter?"

"There are some things which it would be a crime to hear in silence,"
replied Wilfrid; "and I implore you, my dear, dear lord, by all the
love that once united you and your faithful page in the bonds of
friendship, not to listen to the fatal suggestions of the false
Brithric."

"False Brithric!" echoed the wily tempter; "I will prove myself the
true friend of the Atheling, if he will only give consent to the deed
by which I will make him this very day the lord of England."

"Impossible," cried the prince; "you have no power to raise me to the
throne of my father Edward, albeit it is my lawful inheritance."

"The usurper Athelstane knows that full well," observed Brithric.
"Therefore it is that you are kept here, like a bird in a cage, leading
a life of monkish seclusion in an obscure college, instead of learning
to wield the battleaxe, to hurl the spear, and rein the war-horse, like
a royal Saxon prince."