They left their horses at the manor house, which was garrisoned by
Hereward's retainers, and broke their fast, gladdened by an
enthusiastic reception; hope was not yet dead here.
Afterwards, they all embarked in large flat-bottomed boats, which
were sluggishly impelled, by oar and sail, towards the distant
towers of Ely.
The sweet fresh breeze, the cheerful warmth of the sun, soothed our
travellers, wearied with their long night ride; the monotonous
splash of the oars assisted to lull them into sleep, oblivious of
past fatigue. Wilfred awoke to find himself approaching the wharf
of Ely.
And here our narrative must perforce leave him for the space of two
years, sharing the fortunes of the famous Hereward, until the fall
of the last refuge of English liberty: the events of those two
years are matters of history {xxii}.
CHAPTER XXI. TWO DOCUMENTS.
Two years had passed away since his last visit, and Geoffrey,
Bishop of Coutances, was again a visitor in England, this time the
guest of the new primate of the conquered country, Archbishop
Lanfranc, a native of Pavia, and formerly abbot of the famed
monastery of Bec in Normandy, to whom the king had been greatly
indebted for his services as negotiator with the Court of Rome,
while the conquest was in deliberation.
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