nd makes their eyes restless.

There were some fifty or more who sat with the kings on the high
place at the end of the hall opposite the great door, thanes and
their ladies, of rank from earl to sheriff. They set me at one end
of the high table also, as a stranger of the court of Carl, asking
me nothing of my own rank, but most willing to honour the great
king through his man. And that was all the more pleasant because
next above me was the Lady Hilda, so that I was more than content.
She had found that she was indeed to ride home with the new-made
bride, and had spoken with her already.

"See," she said, "the omens have come to naught. We were most
foolish to be troubled by them. Saw you ever a fairer face than
Etheldrida's?"

And that was the thought of all of us who so much as remembered
that such a thing as a portent of ill had ever crossed the path of
the king on his way hither.

So the business of eating was ended at last, and then the servants
cleared the long boards which ran lengthwise down the hall for the
folk of lesser rank, and there was a great shifting of places as
all turned toward the high seats to hear what Offa had to say to
his guests. And when that little bustle was ended he welcomed
Ethelbert kindly and frankly, and so would drink to him in all
ceremony.

Then Quendritha rose from her seat and took a beaker from the
steward, and filled the king's golden horn from it. As she did so I
saw Offa look at her with a little questioning smile, as if asking
her somewhat; but she did not answer in words. She passed him, and
filled the cup of the young king who was her guest, and so sat down
again. Then Offa and Ethelbert pledged each other, and the cheers
of all the great company rose to hail them.

Not long after that the queen and the ladies went their way, and we
were left to end the evening with song and tale, after the old
fashion. Those gleemen of Offa's court were skilful, and he had
both Welsh and English harpers, who harped in rivalry. Soon
Ethelbert left the hall, and men smiled to one another, for they
deemed that he was seeking some quiet with the princess. But he was
only following his own custom, and I knew that he would most likely
be in the little chapel for the last service of the day.

Offa sat on, and it seemed to me that his face grew flushed, and
his voice somewhat loud, as the time passed. His courtiers noted it
also.

"Our king is merry," one said to me. "It is not often t