THE MYSTERY OF CORFE. 67 



read the history of the period, what happened was this. 

 Elfrida, it was whispered, was interested in Edward's death 

 to a great extent, and the murder had been, in all pro- 

 bability, committed in her presence, but no one would dare to 

 roundly accuse her of the crime, and even if the accusation 

 were made, justice would have been satisfied by a monetary 

 payment to the next of kin, otherwise Elfrida herself. But 

 observe the course of events. Just when Elf here would have 

 desired to break Elfrida's power, just when the Monastic party 

 were gaining the ascendant, miracles are attributed to the 

 dead body of Edward, and the first hint is given by a member 

 of the Regulars ' ; a priest of Donhead," if we accept Geffrei 

 Gaimar. Forth goes the whole story ; the lame, the blind, the 

 halt, and maimed, all flock to the site of the burial on a lonely 

 moor. Then comes Elfhere and, together with Dunstan, he 

 translates the king's body to Shaftesbury, and mark the 

 rumour that circulates. Elfrida's horse is said to have refused 

 to follow the procession. This story was quite enough. 

 Elfrida's power was broken, and the ignorant superstition of 

 the period would complete the object of the conspiracy. 

 Living, Edward was of little account, dead, Edward was of 

 no account, but the fact that his alleged remains had the power 

 of working miracles attributed to them, were supposed to 

 have been discovered by a Regular priest, translated fry 

 Elfhere and Dunstan, and caused his memory to be revered as 

 a martyr and a saint, was just the very factor that would 

 settle the dispute between the two parties in the Church, and 

 moreover, would settle it, the very direction which Elfhere, as 

 a convert to the party of the Regulars, would desire. Now let 

 us sum up the conclusions. In the first place the site of the 

 murder was not Corfe Castle ; it may, however, have taken 

 place at either Coryates or Sherborne, the latter being the 

 most likely spot if Geffrei Gaimar's account is of any value. 

 In the second place no evidence is in existence which Avould 

 tend to prove that his death was the result of a deliberate 

 conspiracy,but what evidence there is rather goes to show that 

 it was the direct result of a quarrel with an attendant, and 



