"After the bishop had left the audience-chamber the king said that
he was afraid he had acted with harshness to you, as it seemed that
the fault was by no means wholly on your side, and that I could at
once recall you if I wished to do so. I thanked his majesty
dutifully, but said I thought it were best in all ways that for a
time you should remain away from court. In the first place, you
deserved some punishment for your want of respect for the bishop,
to whom you should have submitted yourself, even if you had thought
him unjust. In the second place, as Fitz-Urse had been sent away,
it would create an animosity against you on the part of his countrymen
at court were you to reappear at once; and lastly, that I considered
it would be to your benefit to pass at least some months on your
estates, learning your duties as thane, and making the acquaintance
of your people. Therefore, I wished you to continue at Steyning.
It will assuredly be pleasant for you to know that you are no longer
to be considered as being there in consequence of having fallen
under the king's displeasure, but simply because it is my wish that
you should for a time dwell among your people, and fit yourself to
be a wise lord to them."

Wulf was much pleased at the receipt of this letter, partly because
the fact that he had been sent away in disgrace stung him, and he
had felt obliged frankly to acknowledge to the neighbouring thanes
that he had been sent down on account of a quarrel with a Norman
page; but chiefly because it showed the kindly interest that Harold
felt in him, and that although absent he had still thought of him.

It was nigh ten months before he heard again. During that time he
had grown a good deal, and although he would never be tall, his