"
"He shall not die," said Geoffrey, "if we can save him. William
must acquit him if he hear all."
"Acquit him, yes," said Lanfranc, "of sacrilege and parricide; but
not, I fear, of the guilt of rebellion against his lawful king
{xxiv}."
"At least, if he must die, let him die freed from the supposed
guilt of such awful sacrilege, and let men know to what kind of
father King William committed the innocent English lad."
"Most certainly: if we cannot save him from the consequences of his
rash appeal to the sword, we will yet save him from the cord, or
worse, the stake, which might be thought the not inappropriate
penalty of the destruction of two successive houses of God by
fire."
"The stake! it is too horrible to think of!" said the monk; "thank
God I have not sought thee in vain. Forgive me, my lord, but the
lad is very dear to me."
"Nor is my own interest much less keen in him," said Geoffrey. "I
first met him at Senlac, where he sought his father's corpse amidst
the slain, and since that time have watched his tragic career not
without grief."
"But one question remains," spake Lanfranc. "The documents will be
disputed: how shall we prove them genuine?"
"There is much internal evidence; but may not some of the witnesses
of the crimes be living? For instance, the Jew, Abraham of Toledo,
he who sold the poisons to Hugo?" said Geoffrey.
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