"Give me a better horse and I shall go the quicker," replied the imperturbable Lombard, and William's wrath passed into laughter and good will.

From that hour Lanfranc became his minister and counsellor, whether for affairs in the duchy itself or for the more daring schemes of ambition which opened up across the Channel.
[Sidenote: William and England] William's hopes of the English crown are said to have been revived by a storm which threw Harold, while cruising in the Channel, on the coast of Ponthieu.

Its count sold him to the Duke; and as the price of return to England William forced him to swear on the relics of saints to support his claim to its throne.

But, true or no, the oath told little on Harold's course.

As the childless King drew to his grave one obstacle after another was cleared from the earl's path.