Dunstan
conjectured the reason of the king's retreat; and, carrying along with
him Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, over whom he had gained an absolute
ascendant, he burst into the apartment, upbraided Edwy with his
lasciviousness, probably bestowed on the queen the most opprobrious
epithet that can be applied to her sex, and tearing him from her arms,
pushed him back, in a disgraceful manner, into the banquet of the
nobles.[**] Edwy, though young, and opposed by the prejudices of the
people, found an opportunity of taking revenge for this public insult.
He questioned Dunstan concerning the administration of the treasury
during the reign of his predecessor;[***] and when that minister refused
to give any account of money expended, as he affirmed, by orders of the
late king, he accused him of malversation in his office, and banished
him the kingdom. But Dunstan's cabal was not inactive during his
absence: they filled the public with high panegyrics on his sanctity:
they exclaimed against the impiety of the king and queen; and having
poisoned the minds of the people by these declamations, they proceeded
to still more outrageous acts of violence against the royal authority.
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