Owen had been with us for a year and a half when what I am going to
tell came to pass, and in that time my father had come to look on
him rather as a brother than as a guest, and the thought that he
might leave him at any time was one which he did not like to keep
in his mind.
That being so, it was not at all surprising that in this summer my
father had at last borne witness that he wished to become a
Christian altogether, and so it had come to pass that he and Owen
and I used to ride to Bosham, the little seacoast village beyond
Chichester town, to speak with Dicul, the good old Irish priest,
who yet bided there rather than in the new monastery which Wilfrith
built at Selsea, until we were taught all that was needful, and the
time came when we should be baptized.
That my father would have done here at Eastdean, that all his
people, who were Christians before him, should see and rejoice. Yet
it was not an easy matter for him as it had been for them, for now
he would stand alone among his fellows, the heathen thanes; and
most of all Erpwald the priest would be wroth with him for leaving
that which he had held so long. He must meet these men often
enough, and he knew that they would have biting words to hurl at
him, but that thought did not stay him for a moment. It was more
than likely that one or two more would follow him when once the old
circle was broken.
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