Suddenly, close where she paused, the crowd parted, and down the
narrow lane so formed amidst the wedged and breathless crowd came the
august procession;--prelate and thegn swept on from the Church to the
palace; and alone, with firm and measured step, the diadem on his
brow, the sceptre in his hand, came the King. Edith checked the
rushing impulse at her heart, but she bent forward, with veil half
drawn aside, and so gazed on that face and form of more than royal
majesty, fondly, proudly. The King swept on and saw her not; love
lived no more for him.




CHAPTER III.


The boat shot over the royal Thames. Borne along the waters, the
shouts and the hymns of swarming thousands from the land shook, like a
blast, the gelid air of the Wolf month. All space seemed filled and
noisy with the name of Harold the King. Fast rowed the rowers,--on
shot the boat; and Hilda's face, stern and ominous, turned to the
still towers of the palace, gleaming wide and white in the wintry sun.
Suddenly Edith lifted her hand from her bosom, and said passionately:

"O mother of my mother, I cannot live again in the house where the
very walls speak to me of him; all things chain my soul to the earth;
and my soul should be in heaven, that its prayers may be heard by the
heedful angels. The day that the holy Lady of England predicted hath
come to pass, and the silver cord is loosed at last. Ah why, why did I