CHAPTER VI.
The sun rose, and the stairs and passages without were filled with the
crowds that pressed to hear news of the Earl's health. The doors
stood open, and Gurth led in the multitude to look their last on the
hero of council and camp, who had restored with strong hand and wise
brain the race of Cerdic to the Saxon throne. Harold stood by the
bed-head silent, and tears were shed and sobs were heard. And many a
thegn who had before half believed in the guilt of Godwin as the
murderer of Alfred, whispered in gasps to his neighbour:
"There is no weregeld for manslaying on the head of him who smiles so
in death on his old comrades in life!"
Last of all lingered Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia; and when the
rest had departed, he took the pale hand, that lay heavy on the
coverlid, in his own, and said:
"Old foe, often stood we in Witan and field against each other; but
few are the friends for whom Leofric would mourn as he mourns for
thee. Peace to thy soul! Whatever its sins, England should judge
thee mildly, for England beat in each pulse of thy heart, and with thy
greatness was her own!"
Then Harold stole round the bed, and put his arms round Leofric's
neck, and embraced him. The good old Earl was touched, and he laid
his tremulous hands on Harold's brown locks and blessed him.
"Harold," he said, "thou succeedest to thy father's power: let thy
father's foes be thy friends. Wake from thy grief, for thy country
now demands thee,--the honour of thy House, and the memory of the
dead. Many even now plot against thee and thine. Seek the King,
demand as thy right thy father's earldom, and Leofric will back thy
claim in the Witan."
Harold pressed Leofric's hand, and raising it to his lips replied:
"Be our Houses at peace henceforth and for ever."
Tostig's vanity indeed misled him, when he dreamed that any
combination of Godwin's party could meditate supporting his claims
against the popular Harold--nor less did the monks deceive themselves,
when they supposed that, with Godwin's death, the power of his family
would fall.
There was more than even the unanimity of the chiefs of the Witan, in
favour of Harold; there was that universal noiseless impression
throughout all England, Danish and Saxon, that Harold was now the sole
man on whom rested the state--which, whenever it so favours one
individual, is irresistible. Nor was Edward himself hostile to
Harold, whom alone of that House, as we have before said, he esteemed
and loved.
Harold was at once named Earl of Wessex; and relinquishing the earldom
he held before, he did not hesitate as to the successor to be
recommended in his place. Conquering all jealousy and dislike for
Algar, he united the strength of his party in favour of the son of
Leofric, and the election fell upon him. With all his hot errors, the
claims of no other Earl, whether from his own capacities or his
father's services, were so strong; and his election probably saved the
state from a great danger, in the results of that angry mood and that
irritated ambition with which he had thrown himself into the arms of
England's most valiant aggressor, Gryffyth, King of North Wales.
To outward appearance, by this election, the House of Leofric--uniting
in father and son the two mighty districts of Mercia and the East
Anglians--became more powerful than that of Godwin; for, in that last
House, Harold was now the only possessor of one of the great earldoms,
and Tostig and the other brothers had no other provision beyond the
comparatively insignificant lordships they held before. But if Harold
had ruled no earldom at all, he had still been immeasurably the first
man in England--so great was the confidence reposed in his valour and
wisdom. He was of that height in himself, that he needed no pedestal
to stand on.
The successor of the first great founder of a House succeeds to more
than his predecessor's power, if he but know how to wield and maintain
it. For who makes his way to greatness without raising foes at every
step? and who ever rose to power supreme, without grave cause for
blame? But Harold stood free from the enmities his father had
provoked, and pure from the stains that slander or repute cast upon
his father's name. The sun of the yesterday had shone through cloud;
the sun of the day rose in a clear firmament. Even Tostig recognised
the superiority of his brother; and after a strong struggle between
baffled rage and covetous ambition, yielded to him, as to a father.
He felt that all Godwin's House was centred in Harold alone; and that
only from his brother (despite his own daring valour and despite his
alliance with the blood of Charlemagne and Alfred, through the sister
of Matilda, the Norman duchess,) could his avarice of power be
gratified.
"Depart to thy home, my brother," said Earl Harold to Tostig, "and
grieve not that Algar is preferred to thee. For, even had his claim
been less urgent, ill would it have beseemed us to arrogate the
lordships of all England as our dues. Rule thy lordship with wisdom:
gain the love of thy lithsmen. High claims hast thou in our father's
name, and moderation now will but strengthen thee in the season to
come. Trust on Harold somewhat, on thyself more. Thou hast but to
add temper and judgment to valour and zeal, to be worthy mate of the
first earl in England. Over my father's corpse I embraced my father's
foe. Between brother and brother shall there not be love, as the best
bequest of the dead?"
"It shall not be my fault, if there be not," answered Tostig, humbled
though chafed. And he summoned his men and returned to his domains.
