needless his message, and short our answer," said Vebba, the bluff
thegn of Kent.

Meanwhile the monk and the Norman knight drew near and paused at some
short distance, while Haco, advancing, said briefly:

"These men I found at our outposts; they demand to speak with the
King."

"Under his standard the King will hear the Norman invader," replied
Harold; "bid them speak."

The same sallow, mournful, ominous countenance, which Harold had
before seen in the halls of Westminster, rising deathlike above the
serge garb of the Benedict of Caen, now presented itself, and the monk
thus spoke:

"In the name of William, Duke of the Normans in the field, Count of
Rouen in the hall, Claimant of all the realms of Anglia, Scotland, and
the Walloons, held under Edward his cousin, I come to thee, Harold his
liege and Earl."

"Change thy titles, or depart," said Harold, fiercely, his brow no
longer mild in its majesty, but dark as midnight. "What says William
the Count of the Foreigners, to Harold, King of the Angles, and
Basileus of Britain?"

"Protesting against thy assumption, I answer thee thus," said Hugues
Maigrot. "First, again he offers thee all Northumbria, up to the
realm of the Scottish sub-king, if thou wilt fulfil thy vow, and cede