Summary Chapter 20

Edward flees into the woods. The woods are silent and the occasional sound only makes them drearier. He is tempted to remain there the rest of the day, but the cold urges him to keep moving. He keeps hoping to encounter a road but just winds up in denser woods. He tries to move faster as night approaches but only trips over vines.

 

He finally comes to an inhabited, shabby hut. He sees a holy hermit inside. The hermit allows Edward to enter, for he is a king who has cast his crown aside. The hermit instructs Edward how he shall live while he stays there, and whoever seeks him shall not find him.

 

The hermit tells Edward that he is an archangel. Edward decides he would rather be with the thieves than with a madman. The hermit says he was made an archangel five years ago. He had been told in a dream twenty years ago that he would be a Pope, but then the king closed down his monastery.

 

Edward is frightened by the man, but then the hermit becomes gentle and caring. Edwards starts to develop more affection for him.

 

When the hermit learns Edward is the son of Henry VIII, who is dead, the man sharpens a butcher knife. He mutters that Henry VIII is burning in Hell. When Edward falls asleep, the hermit ties him up.