ined, in case of a refusal, to take his pastoral staff
in his hand and enter the council room, announced or not. A more
determined priest had never occupied the primacy, yet he was benevolent
as determined, and, as we have mentioned, was known as Odo the Good
amongst the poor. Stern and unyielding to the vices of the rich, he was
gentle as a parent to the repentant sinner.

He had pronounced, as we have seen, the lesser excommunication,[xxxi]
in consequence of Edwy's refusal to put away Elgiva, immediately after
the coronation; since which the guilty pair had never communicated at
the altar, or even attended mass. Their lives had been practically
irreligious, nay idolatrous, for they had been gods to each other.

And now, in the full pomp of the archiepiscopal attire, with the mitre
of St. Augustine on his head and the crozier in his hand, Odo advanced,
like one who felt his divine mission, to the centre of the room. His
cross bearer and other attendants remained in the antechamber.

"What dost thou seek, rude priest?" said Edwy.

"I am come in the Name of Him Whose laws thou hast broken, and speak to
thee as the Baptist to Herod. Put away this woman, for it is not lawful
for thee to have her."

"And would I could reply to thee as the holy fox Dunstan once informed
me Herod replied to the insolent Baptist, and send thine head on a
charger to Elgiva."

"My lord! my liege! my king! Remember his sacred office," remonstrated
the counsellors.

"Peace, my lords. His threats or his blandishments would alike fail to
move me. The blood of Englishmen slain in civil war--if indeed any are
found to fight for an excommunicate king--is that which I seek to avert.

"In the Name of my Master, Whom thou hast defied, O king, I offer thee
thy choice. Thou must put away thy concubine, or thou shalt sustain the
greater excommunication, when it will become unlawful for Christian
people even to speak with thee, or wish thee God speed, lest they be
partakers of thy evil deeds."

"My lord, you must yield," whispered Cynewulf.

"Son of the noble Edmund, thou must save thy father's name from disgrace."

"I cannot, will not, do Elgiva this foul wrong. I tell thee, priest,
that if thy benediction has never been pronounced upon our union, we are
man and wife before heaven."

"I await your answer," said Odo. "Am I to understand you choose the
fearful penalty of excommunication?"

"Nay! nay! he does not; he cannot," cried the counsellor