On our way we
met others and from them heard all that had befallen. It would seem that
the French loss in life was heavier than our own, since many of them
were cut off when they tried to fly to their ships, and some of these
could not be floated from the beach or were rammed and sunk with all
aboard by the English vessels. But the damage done to Hastings was as
much as could scarcely be made good in a generation, for the most of it
was burnt or burning. Also many, like my own mother, had perished in
the fire, being sick or aged or in childbed, or for this reason and that
forgotten and unable to move. Indeed on the beach were hundreds of
folk in despair, nor was it only the women and children who wept that
evening.
For my part, with William I went beyond the burning to the house of a
certain old priest who was my confessor, and the friend of my father
before me, and there we found food and slept, he returning thanks to God
for my escape and offering me consolation for the loss of my mother and
goods.
I rested but ill that night, as those do who are over-weary.
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