I Am the Chosen King (23 page)

Southwark

The port of Dover fell under Godwine’s jurisdiction. The King, petitioned by an incensed comte Eustace de Boulogne at the gross public humiliation he had suffered, issued immediate orders that Wessex punish the town for murder and affray. Godwine categorically refused on the grounds that the Normans were as guilty of the same offences. Edward, adamantly listening only to Boulogne’s account of events, retaliated by threatening to outlaw the Earl if he dared disobey his king’s express command.

Finally, goaded too far by Edward’s stubborn adherence to Norman influence, a war of words had ensued, with Godwine rallying his sons to his aid and the King summoning his Council and army to Gloucester. Godwine had halted his armed force fifteen miles from the town, at Beverstone on the Oxford-to-Bristol road.

Among the notables who rode to help their king, his nephew—stepson to Eustace—Ralf de Mantes, with an entourage of his French followers; the Earls Leofric and Siward, two men delighted to see their long-term rival publicly rebuked—and Robert Champart, the Norman-born Archbishop of Canterbury.

By skill and experience, Godwine had taken the initiative of the confrontation. With the strength of his sons’ men at his back he was in a position to intimidate the King, but Edward had found reason, at last, to slice Godwine’s feet from under him and, urged by his advisers and the Archbishop of Canterbury, was determined to move against Wessex. By the seventh day of September the exchange of anger was at red heat. Godwine demanded the surrender of Eustace’s men, accompanied by an apology to the people of Dover from the Count himself. Champart voiced an implication of treason. While messengers carried accusations back and forth, the armies of England mobilised, Englishman preparing to fight against Englishman. Yet neither side wanted civil war. For his own part, Edward was eager to overthrow Godwine, but not with bloodshed, not if there was any other way to be rid of him.

To the relief of all, a trial before Council, to be held in Westminster on the twenty-first day of September, was agreed. King, companions, army and estranged Earl moved to London, Edward shutting himself within the security of his completed Westminster palace and Godwine entrenching into his Southwark manor. But before anyone left Gloucestershire the King demanded hostages. Godwine had mild reservation about surrendering two of his family into the King’s care, but then his youngest son Wulfnoth and Swegn’s son Hakon would also be under Edith’s charge and no harm would come to boys who were protected by the Queen, their kinswoman.

“I say no, Father! If we agree to surrender our men to Edward, we will be left with nothing to outface him. We have an army ready to attack Westminster. Let us frighten the piss out of the King and his poxed Normans while we have the chance!” Swegn slammed the sword that he had been burnishing back into its scabbard, his expression that of thunderous anger—with good cause, for Edward had out of hand redeclared him outlaw, had given him two days to leave England.

Harold looked up sharply from the bridle harness he was mending. Swegn’s arrogant stupidity again! Fortunately his mother was not there to witness it. “So at your urging we start a civil war? What with? We do not have adequate men. We have only the Wessex thegns loyal to our father, and our sworn housecarls. East Anglia has decided not to risk the accusation of treason and has declared for the King, not for me. Neither you nor Tostig have anyone to call on for support. Had you not been so stupid in the past, perhaps you would still have an earldom of your own. We would have had more strength behind us!”

“If you were more intent on your duties,” Swegn hissed back, “rather than playing nursemaid to your whore and her brats, perhaps Anglia might have been more willing to back you!”

Harold stormed to his feet, flinging the harness aside, his hand groping for his dagger.

Godwine thrust between them, bellowing in anger. “Is it not enough that we quarrel with Edward? I do not need the pair of you at each other’s throats as well!”

Harold backed down, apologising to his father. Swegn scowled and kicked at a hound sniffing for scraps of food among the dried reeds that covered the floor.

Godwine’s head ached and his chest hurt, his breathing coming in shallow gasps. Could his eldest son not see the difficulty they were in? “With this safe conduct I will get to see the King. We must make a peaceful settlement. Unlike you, Swegn, I do not want a war.”

“And you forget our sister, youngest brother and your own son.” Tostig complained. “Are we to abandon them to Edward’s mercy? If we commit ourselves to fighting, will they not be in mortal danger?”

“Father ought never have agreed for those boys to be taken. I said at the time that it was a stupid thing to do.” No one contradicted Swegn that on the contrary, he had made no comment whatsoever regarding his child, Hakon.

“Edward is not a man who would harm children, surely?” Leofwine asked doubtfully. He was two months into manhood, had little expected to be facing so grim a crisis so early in adulthood. “Hakon is four years of age, Wulfnoth barely ten.”

“That still leaves Edith.” Gyrth, the fourth-born brother, added drily. What Edith was thinking, feeling, no one knew, for no word had been smuggled to her, nor a message received.

“Neither the boys nor Edith will come to harm,” Godwine said with a quick, dismissive movement of his hand. “Edward is no murderer.” That he firmly believed. His son, his daughter, his grandson were safe whatever the outcome of these next few hours here in London.

“Edward, no.” Harold spoke softly, voicing the concern that drifted through their minds. “But what of the Archbishop and the King’s other advisers?” There was no telling what Edward might be persuaded to do, so deeply was he under the influence of Champart.

The situation was escalating with the wild wind of a raging storm. Godwine needed to put his case rationally before the Council, explain the view of the people of Dover, what they had suffered at the drunken hands of those Normans. So far the earls and nobles had heard only Boulogne’s version, had been influenced by Champart’s deliberately twisted judgement. He could not believe, for all their antagonism and past disagreements, that Siward and Leofric, once they heard the truth, would willingly vote for war. Not once he had been offered a fair chance to set matters straight.

“I have to go to Edward—and will only be permitted to go if I give assurance of my peaceful intention. For that, we must surrender the men who would fight against the Crown at our command.” What choice had he but to agree these latest conditions? He had to show that he had meant no harm in amassing these men who were unquestionably loyal to him. He had to disprove these outrageous charges of treason, to prove that he and his sons were, above all else, King’s men, and that he, Godwine, had implicit trust in the word and just law of that king. Though, in his heart, he held little enthusiasm for such a declaration.

Godwine turned to Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester, who sat in Countess Gytha’s favourite chair to the far side of the hearth. “Deliver our men to the King,” he said. “When I receive, in return, the surety of safe conduct and suitable hostages, then I will proceed, alone, to Westminster.”

Relieved, Stigand nodded his head. He had never particularly liked Godwine, often in the past their opinions had differed, sometimes with more heat than intended, but in this thing he gave full support. Edward had listened to those who advised for their own gain, rather than for common sense.

“You have made a wise decision, my Lord.” Stigand rose from his seat and left the chamber, calling for his cloak and horse within the same breath. He sighed as he mounted, set his bay gelding into a canter. It was drizzling again and the cold was blowing in off the grey, murky waters of the Thames. He did not much relish the ride to Westminster, nor the reception he feared he would get once he arrived. One as cold and wet as the weather, no doubt. Was he wasting both breath and time? What chance had he of turning ears that were as hard and as deaf as stone? But someone had to try and make the peace between King and Earl.

He returned to Southwark within a mere two hours. The Earl was not going to like this message that he bore from the King. Stigand did not much like it either.

***

“We are in a hopeless position, then.” Godwine sat slumped, his head sinking deeper into his hands. His hair carried more silvered streaks than it once had, his cheeks were sagging, skin sallow. He was seven and fifty years of age, no longer a young man. Gytha crossed the room with quick and anxious strides, set her hands to her husband’s shoulders, her paled face turning to Harold, her eyes betraying her fear.

Stigand’s hands trembled as he took the ale offered him by young Leofwine. The words he had just spoken to this family, here in this warm and homely chamber, were among the most difficult ever to have passed his lips.

“The King bids me tell you, Godwine of Wessex, that this is your final summons to answer the charges of treason before him and his Council.” Tears had trickled down Stigand’s cheeks as he had spoken. No, he had rarely agreed with Godwine, had often doubted the Earl’s intentions, but this was beyond all reason, all sense. Had the King lost his mind? Was he so very much influenced by the mischief that surrounded him at court? It seemed he was.

Stigand inhaled a slow, steadying breath. He had no desire to complete this obnoxious message, but it had to be done, and best get it done quickly for the sake of the lady. “Edward adds that he will be prepared to grant you full pardon, if…” Stigand faltered again, swallowed. Looked Godwine direct in the eye. “If you can restore to him his dead brother, Alfred.”

Yes, Godwine had made mistakes in the past and yes, he wanted well for himself and his family—what man of courage and ambition did not? But beneath those human frailties he was a good man who had served king, queen, and country with a loyalty rarely observed among his kind. He did not deserve such a wicked dismissal of his integrity.

Godwine straightened his back. His sons were looking at him, silent, expressions and emotions blank. Swegn, Harold, Tostig, Leofwine and Gyrth. They would follow him into the bloody field of war against their king if he asked them, he and his sons alone, with not a single man at their backs. If he asked it. He exhaled a long and contemplative breath. “Then there is nothing for us,” he said. “We are lost. We must seek exile.” Godwine looked to the Bishop. “How long have we been granted?”

Stigand answered quietly, his voice tense with emotion. This ought not be happening—if Edward could be so implacable to a man as important and powerful as Godwine, then what hope was there for the rest of them left in the hands of these damn influential Normans? “Five days, my Lord. He gives you but five days to be gone from England.”

Waltham Abbey

Edyth read the letter for a third time. The hurriedly scrawled words were unchanged, except the ink they were written in was becoming smudged by the tears that dribbled from her cheeks.

Harold was on his way to Ireland, taking ship from Bristol with his brother Leofwine.

“Edward will not harm you or the children,” the letter read in its brief explanation.

I, and the male members of the family, are declared outlaw. Our lands and entitlements are withdrawn from us and our lives endangered were we to remain here in England. My lord father and the others are to go from Bosham to Count Baldwin in Flanders, with as much of the family wealth as they can take on board ship. I know not when I may safely return. Kiss the children for me and God keep you, my most precious love.

The manor was safe, for Harold had transferred its ownership into Edyth’s name at the birth of their first son, along with several other estates scattered throughout Anglia and southern England. In her own right Edyth Swannhæls, as an earl’s lady, was numbered among the wealthiest of Englishwomen. What did she care for property and riches if she did not have Harold with her? She slumped forward, the letter fluttering from her fingers as her hands covered her face, sobs shuddering through her swollen body. She was eight months pregnant, the babe would be born with the coming of the autumn colours of russet and gold, and Harold might never see the child…

It seemed incongruous that the day was fine and warm, with a radiant sun and a playful breeze that trundled along the track opposite the manor, whispering among the sweep of the trees standing sentinel beside the cluster of streams that sprang from this highest part of the hill. A day that had started out so happily. She had promised to walk with the children down to the Lea river, to see the swans. They had been watching the pair since spring, marvelling at how the pen sat so stubborn on her eggs, how the cob protected and nurtured his wife and the youngsters once they were hatched. “Swans stay paired and mated for life,” Harold had once told her. “They choose each other and through no matter what, remain steadfast and loyal. As will I to you.”

Edyth was certain her heart was to crack into two. Never had she expected this, that he would leave her, so hurriedly, without warning. That one day he would perhaps take a noble-born wife was always there as a possibility, but this? Surely it was all nonsense, a misunderstanding? Harold’s letter confirmed otherwise. The King would not listen, would not entertain impartial justice for Godwine or the folk of Dover. She knelt beneath the copse of birch trees, the wind rippling the underside of the leaves into dancing waves of silver, closed her eyes, the tears slipping from beneath her wet lashes.

When Harold had left here less than twenty days past to answer his father’s urgent appeal, he had assured her there was no need for undue concern. “It is all hissing steam from an over-boiling pot,” he had said with an easy, confident laugh. “My father will sort things amicably, you will see.”

“Mama?” A frightened voice quivered beside her. Edyth looked up, saw her eldest boy standing there, his face sombre, concern etched into his widened eyes. His grandmother had once said how much he resembled his father at that age of seven years; the same curl of fair hair, jutting chin and quick, exuberant laugh. “Mama?” he asked again, stretching out his hand to touch her cheek. “What is wrong? Are you ill? Shall I fetch someone?”

Attempting a smile of reassurance, Edyth gathered Goddwin to her. When would the boy see his father again? “No, my honey-sweet, I am not ill.”

“Is it the babe, then?” Goddwin set his hand lightly on the bulge of his mother’s stomach. “He kicks hard, I can feel him.”

“He is kicking to tell me that he wants to be out in the beauty of the world, playing in the sunshine with his elder brother.” Edyth kissed her son’s forehead. He was a good boy, quick to learn, slow to cry or whine. Harold was so proud of him, of all their four children. Five, if you counted Alfrytha, who was with God, buried in her cold and lonely grave within the churchyard at Canterbury. Suddenly, afraid, she held the boy tight and close. She would never see her little girl again, as she might never see Harold…no she must not think like this. Must remain strong and calm. Harold had gone to Ireland to bargain for mercenary help, Godwine to do the same in Flanders. To buy aid in the form of men and arms, to return as soon they might to persuade the King to listen to reason. “Your father has had to leave England for a while,” she explained to her son. “He will return when he can, as soon as he can, but that may not be some long while.”

Goddwin chewed his lip, his young mind rummaging through the implications. “Why has he had to leave?”

“Because the King is angry with your grandfather.” Best to answer simply and with the truth.

“But if the King is angry with Grandfather, why has my father had to go away?”

Placing a kiss on her fingertips, Edyth laid the caress on to the boy’s lips and set him to his feet. “Because if a son loves his father, it is his duty to be with him in a time of great need.”

The boy digested her words, then nodded. “My grandfather is lucky to have my father as a son, isn’t he?”

“Aye. As your father is lucky to have you.” Edyth pushed herself upright. The babe was heavy; she would be glad when this birthing was over. Goddwin bent and retrieved the piece of paper, squinting at the writing that he had not yet learnt to decipher well. With it, he picked up an unopened package. Gravely, he gave both to his mother. Rolling the parchment into a scroll, Edyth slid the precious letter into her waist purse, then unthreaded the knots of the string that bound the cloth of the package.

Inside lay a necklace made of threaded gold bullae and biconical gold beads; at the centre, a gold and garnet cross. It was exquisite. Edyth squatted down so that Goddwin could fasten it around her neck, emotion almost choking her as the tears once again welled up from her heart. A gift, sent with love from Harold. She cupped the crucifix in her hand, closed her eyes. “God protect him,” she prayed, Please, God protect him.” She could not know it, but Harold had sent the gift with the same prayer, aware that childbirth and all its possible difficulties would soon be upon her.

***

Gytha also wept, but inwardly. At this moment there was too much to do, in too short a time, to indulge herself with grief. “No, not that chest, this one!” she called in agitation to servants removing items from the house place to the ship. The tide would be turning soon and they would sail to a new country, a new life.
Please God
, Gytha thought,
let us not be long from our home.
Bosham was where she had come as a young bride; where she had birthed her children and watched them grow…She drew breath. It was no good thinking like this. Better to do away with material things than the life of her husband and sons.

Harold and Leofwine were safe, would have sailed from Bristol. Wulfnoth? Would he be all right with Edith? Godwine assured her he would. He had come unexpected, her last-born son—she had thought her childbearing years to be finished, her moon courses ended, thought nothing, initially, of the weight that had padded her belly. He had come so easy to birth, half of an hour from the first uncomfortable twinge in the hollow of her back…so unlike Swegn—two days had she laboured to bring him to life.

Swegn. Swegn ought to have gone with Harold into Ireland, but he was ailing, with giddy heads and blurring vision, his tempers the greater for the pain that stabbed at his brain. Gytha rarely allowed him to enter her thoughts, not after all the troubles he had brought to this family, but this, for once, was not his doing. This had been brought by those Normans who wanted her husband gone from court, from England.

She must remember the balm for Godwine’s aching knee-joint. So much to pack, so much to leave. The finest table and bed linen were already stowed in chests and aboard ship, along with the six best wall hangings. Silver tableware and glasses had been set for safety in straw. Bolts of silks and brocades, linen and fine wool; fur robes, her finest gowns, Godwine’s tunics and braies, his armour and weaponry. The Hall harp, of course, and the family’s books. Her sewing box, jewellery and combs—nothing of value was to be left for Edward to confiscate. Besides, if they were to make a home in Flanders—however temporary—they would do so with honour and comfort. There would be no begging or casting for second best for the family of Godwine.