“You’re a damned lord, and you can read, can’t you?” “No, not really. A bit. Short words.” “But you can learn?” I thought about it. “I can learn.” “And we have twelve ships’ crews,” he said, “looking for employment, so we give them to Alfred and we say that Lord Earsling is their leader and he gives you a book and you read out the pretty words, then you and I take the bastards to war and do some proper damage to your beloved Danes.”
