THE MYSTERY OF CORFE 63 



a house at Corfe ; the murder took place at her house. Corfe 

 geate was probably the name applied to a place or locality 

 now called Coryates, near Portisham, and in one copy of 

 Hovendon, Coryates is given as the site of the murder. Lastly, 

 one account, and one only so far as I am aware, locates the site 

 of the deed at about a league from Somerset, and within a 

 moderate ride of Wiltshire, and strangely enough Elfrida 

 can be proved to have held property at a spot corresponding 

 with practically every circumstance demanded by that 

 account, namely, at Sherborne. 



It is now desirable to consider what evidence there is in 

 existence bearing upon the question of who instigated the 

 murder, or, in other words, premising that there was a con- 

 spiracy of some kind to bring about Edward's death, who were 

 the conspirators? Now it has already been pointed out that, 

 as far as can be judged from the writings of William of Mal- 

 mesbury, Elfrida was regarded as the prime mover in the 

 crime, if she did not actually commit the deed. Further 

 it has been pointed out that the events of the fateful after- 

 noon almost precluded the possibility of the circumstances 

 having been previously arranged, and without premeditation 

 there can have been no conspiracy. If there was no con- 

 spiracy, Elfrida must be quitted of all blame, and if there 

 was, it does not seem at all likely that Elfrida had any part 

 in it. She was, as I read her character, a woman who was 

 exceedingly unlikely to do a desperately foolish action. It 

 must have been perfectly evident to her that if the king was 

 murdered anywhere near her, that she would be charged 

 with the crime, and, understanding this, as she must have done, 

 it seems little short of folly to believe that Elfrida deliber- 

 ately lured Edward to the very spot that it was least desir- 

 able should be the scene of his murder, namely, her own house. 

 Had there been anything in the nature of a conspiracy and 

 had she taken any part in it, it must have been obvious to 

 all that the residence of the arch-conspirator was the most 

 unsuitable place for the commission of the deed ; always 

 provided that there was any reason for secrecy. 



