Men will say that she has done no wrong
in wedding me; and for all that Alsi may say, it will be believed that
she knew well whom she was wedding. There will be no blame to her."
That seemed to be all his thought of the matter now, and it was like
him. Then he went back to his princess, and we spurred on to Grimsby,
and set all to work, that the greeting might be all that we could make it.
And so, when those two rode into our garth, and the gates were closed
after them, we reined our horses round them, and drew our swords, and
cried the ancient greeting with one mighty shout:
"Skoal to Havelok Gunnarsson--Skoal to Goldberga, Havelok's wife!
Skoal! Yours we are, and for you we will die! Skoal!"
CHAPTER XVIII. JARL SIGURD OF DENMARK.
Now one would like to tell of quiet days at Grimsby; but they were not
to be. Three days after Havelok's homecoming we were on the "swan's
path," and heading for Denmark, with the soft south wind of high summer
speeding us on the way. And I will tell how that came about, for else it
may seem strange that Havelok did not see to the rights of his wife
first of all.
That was his first thought, in truth, and we brothers planned many ways
of getting to work for her, for it was certain that Alsi would be on his
guard. And on the next day came a man from Lincoln to seek Berthun, with
news.
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