posed death. Cuthbert hesitated whether he should
proceed at once to see her; but he feared that the shock of his
appearance might be too much for her, and that her expressions of joy
might make the retainers and others aware of his arrival, and the news
might in some way reach the ears of those at the castle. He therefore
despatched Cnut to see her, and break the news to her cautiously, and to
request her to arrange for a time when she would either see Cuthbert at
some place at a distance from the house, or would so arrange that the
domestics should be absent and that he would have an interview with her
there unobserved.

Cnut was absent some hours, and on his return told Cuthbert that he had
seen Dame Editha, and that her joy on hearing of her son's safe arrival
had caused her no harm, but rather the reverse. The news that King
Richard had bestowed upon him the title and lands of Evesham was new to
her, and she was astonished indeed to hear of his elevation. Having heard
much of the character of the pretending earl, she had great fears for the
safety of Cuthbert, should his residence in the neighbourhood get to his
ears; and although sure of the fidelity of all her retainers, she feared
that in their joy at their young master's return they might let slip some
incautious word which would come to the ears of some of those at the
castle. She therefore determined to meet him at a distance. She had
arranged that upon the following day she would give out that she intended
to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Dunstan, which lay at the edge
of the forest, to thank him for her recovery from illness, and to pray
for the safety of her son.

She would be carried thither in a litter, and her journey would excite no
comment whatever. She would take with her four of her most trusted
retainers, and would on her arrival at the shrine send them to a
distance, in order to pay her devotions undisturbed. Cuthbert was to be
near, and the moment he saw them depart, to enter.

This arrangement was carried out, and the joy of Dame Editha at again
meeting her son was deep indeed. He had left her a lad of fifteen. He now
returned a youth of nearly eighteen, stout and strong beyond his age, and
looking far older than he was, from the effect of the hot sun of Syria
and of the hardships through which he had gone. That he should win his
spurs upon the first opportunity the earl had promised her, and she
doubted not that he would soon attain