第 51 页

greatly at present, there is no saying what he may do later on; and he has

all these locusts to provide for. 'Tis well indeed, then, that there should

be a Norman lady as well as an English thane at Steyning."

Wulf's return home gave rise to demonstrations of the greatest joy among

his tenants. They had heard nothing of him since the battle, and had deemed

him to have fallen with the rest of the defenders of the standard, and had

been living in fear of the arrival of some Norman baron to be their lord.

Wulf was greatly pleased to find that, although not one of his housecarls

had returned from Hastings, the greater portion of his irregular levies had

escaped at nightfall with the party who had inflicted so heavy a blow upon

their pursuers. For the next few days Wulf was thoroughly occupied. The

tenants of his new estates received him almost as joyfully as his own had

done, for, like them, they had expected the advent of a Norman master. In

one of the two estates that had fallen to him the thane he had succeeded

had left no heirs; while the other thane had left a widow and a young

family. Wulf arranged that these should remain in their home, receiving for

their maintenance half the rents of the estate.

Guy was greatly pleased with the fair country in which his sister's lot was

to be cast, but he owned frankly that the house seemed unworthy now of the

large estate, and was indeed but a poor place in comparison with the noble

chateau in which she had been brought up.

"That shall be remedied, Guy, as soon as matters settle down. I have laid

by none of my revenues, for the keeping up of a hundred housecarls has

taxed them to the utmost, but now that my income is more than doubled, and

this expense has altogether ceased, I shall have funds with which I can

soon begin to build. When I was young, Steyning seemed to me a fine house,

but after your Norman castles it is indeed but a poor place."

When, a fortnight later, the De Burgs arrived with Wulf, while Agnes

expressed herself delighted with the quaintness of the old Saxon home, her

father and mother were decidedly of Guy's opinion.

"The house is a good house in its way," the Baron said, "but there will be

great changes in the land. Much of it will be transferred to Norman hands,

and ere long castles and chateaux like ours at home will rise everywhere,

and as an English noble with broad lands it is but fit that your residence

should vie with others. But this shall be my care, and shall be my

daughter's special dowry. I foresee that it will be long ere matters wholly

settle down. Moreover, though William's hand is strong that of his

successor may be weak, and in time there will be the same troubles here

among the barons that there were in Normandy before William put them down

with a strong hand. Therefore, I should say we will build a castle rather

than a chateau, for such I am sure will be the style of all the Norman

buildings here, until England settles down to peace and quiet. I would not

disturb this house, Wulf; it is doubtless dear to you, and will, moreover,

serve as a dowager-house or as an abode for a younger son. We will fix on a

new site altogether, and there we will rear a castle worthy of the estate.

By the way, I have spoken to the king of your betrothal to my daughter, and

he is highly pleased. He says that it is his earnest wish that his Norman

nobles shall marry English heiresses, both because they will thus come into

possession of lands without disturbing the owners, and because such mixture

of blood will the more speedily weld the two peoples into one; and that,

similarly, he is glad to see a Norman maiden united to an English noble of

whom he has so high an opinion."

Fond as Wulf was of his old home he saw that it would be best to abandon it

for a new residence more suited to the times and more in accordance with

his own increased possessions and the home from which he was taking his

wife. After riding round the estates Lord de Burg and he fixed upon a knoll

of rising ground near the village of Bramber, and not far from the

religious house where Wulf had spent so many evenings, and whose prior had

been one of the first to welcome his return.

"I will charter a ship at Rouen," Lord de Burg said, "and send over a

master craftsman, skilful in designing and building castles, and a large

number of quarrymen, masons, and carpenters. Labour here is scarce, and the

men are unskilled at this kind of work. Rough labour can doubtless be

obtained, and your tenants can transport the stones from the quarry and dig

the fosse. I will send over a goodly number of men. It will cost no more to

employ three hundred for six months than fifty for three years."

A week later Wulf sailed for Rouen with the De Burgs Beorn accompanied him,

as well as Osgod, to be present at the wedding, which took place at Rouen

Cathedral. A month later Wulf returned with his wife to Steyning. Already

an army of men were at work at Bramber. The tenants all gave their

assistance readily, and far beyond the amount their feudal tenure required,

for they saw the advantage it would be to them to have a strong castle in

their midst to which they could retire in case of danger. Labourers had

been engaged in large numbers from the country round by the master

craftsmen. The outlines of the castle had been traced, and the ground dug

for its foundations, while already the broad deep fosse which was to

surround it had been dug to a depth of several feet. The stones had to be

brought from a considerable distance, but as at this time of year there was

little work for the carts, those belonging not only to the tenants of the

estate, but to the cultivators for miles round were engaged in the service.

In six months a stately pile had risen in the midst of the tranquil glade.

When it was ready for occupation Lord and Lady de Burg and their son came

over, and great festivities were held when Wulf de Burg (now Lord of

Bramber) moved into the castle.

Soon after the birth of their first son Wulf and his wife received a hasty

summons to cross the sea, and arrived in time to stand by the death-bed of

Guy. Wulf had been greatly moved by the storm of war that had swept over

the North of England, and the terrible vengeance taken by William there.

He had no pity for the traitor earls, but he grieved for the men who, but

for their treachery, would have fought at Hastings. He regretted deeply

the isolated risings in various parts of the country, whose only effect was

to bring ruin upon whole districts and to increase the sternness and rigour

of William's rule.

Wulf's after-life was divided between England and Normandy, as he became a

baron of the latter country at the death of Lord de Burg. He fought no more

in England, but more than once followed William's banner in his struggles

with his rebellious sons and turbulent nobles. He lived to see the

animosities between Englishmen and Normans beginning to die out, and to

find our kings relying upon sturdy English men-at-arms and bow-men in their

struggles with French kings and with the Norman barons who held so large a

portion of English soil. Osgod became the seneschal of the castle, and held

it for his lord during his absences in Normandy. Wulf took an interest in

the fortunes of Ulf, who in the course of time succeeded to the business of

Ulred, and became one of the most skilled and famous armourers in London.

Beorn married the former heiress of one of the estates William had granted

him, and his firm friendship with the Lord of Bramber remained unbroken to

the end of their lives.

===============================================================

小说下载尽在http://bbs.txtnovel.com---书香门第【凌落无声】整理

附：【本作品来自互联网,本人不做任何负责】内容版权归作者所有!

===============================================================