“I am glad that you tell me so, my prince, for Edric the earl would have it that our king fears that Olaf’s good faith may be little.”

“That is new to me,” Eadmund said, frowning; “but, as you know, my father and I have had little to say to each other of late.”

“Then you doubt him not?” I asked.

“I would as soon doubt Edric himself,” he said, “and him I trust as I would trust myself.”

“That is well,” answered I.  “For I feared that you also might have been doubtful of Olaf.”

“Why, what should the king think of Olaf but that he has been his best friend?”

“The earl tells me that he has heard that Cnut will offer Olaf some under-kingship if he will take his part,” I said.

“I cannot tell how he has heard that,” Eadmund said, and he looked puzzled.

“By your spies in Cnut’s court,” said I.

“We have no spies there.  I hate spying,” the Atheling said.  “What means he?”

Then I saw that for some reason which was beyond me Streone had let me know more than was safe.  It was plain that if he spoke truth, he had more dealings with Cnut than were known to the Atheling.  Yet the earl might, for Ethelred’s sake, watch thus on Cnut, rightly enough, and think it safer to say nought to Eadmund, whose wisdom was not so great as his valour.  It was a poor watch enough though, I thought, if he knew the talk about Olaf and not the plans for sailing, which should surely have been told him first of all.

“Maybe he minded him of some old plan of Cnut’s that he heard when you were in Lindsey,” I said, that being all that I could imagine.  “That were enough to return to the mind of our king in his sickness, and trouble him.”

“Aye, I think my father fears treachery from all men,” the Atheling answered.  “But Olaf has done well for us both at the first and now in sending word by you.”

Then the sword I was wearing caught Eadmund’s eyes, for he was ever fond of goodly war gear.

“So—­you have a new sword instead of that I gave you,” he said.  “And I think you have made a good exchange.  Let me see this.”

“I broke the other blade strangely enough,” I told him.  “But this was my father’s sword, and it has come back to me.”

Now I must tell him all about our great fight, and at the end he said: 

“I would that I had been there.  It was a good fight.”  Then he laughed, and added:  “Now, I will say this, that Streone noted this fine sword of yours, and wondered who had given it you, and why.”

“Did he think that Cnut had bribed me also?” I said.  “Such a sword as this is to a simple thane as much as a petty kingdom to Olaf.”

Then Eadmund spoke in the old tone of comradeship that we had been wont to use in Normandy.

“On my word, I believe he did!  But you have often spoken to me of this sword, and you described it well.  I think had I found it on a Dane I should have claimed it for you.  But I never thought you would see it again.”