Chapter 8
The vowThe summer of 651 was a turning point for Etheldreda.
It started quietly enough with the usual round of hospitality at court, the giving of gifts to new friends to buy their loyalty, and to old friends to keep their loyalty. There was much speculation as to whom the young princess would marry. At twenty-one years old she was already long past the usual age for marriage. She visited France, spending time with her eldest sister Ethelberga, her step-sister Sathryd, and her aunt, Hereswith. The people speculated that she would also visit the French court and perhaps make a marriage alliance with a Merovingian prince, but she returned to Rendilsham as beautiful and as unattached as ever.
Living at the monastery with her sisters had renewed her interest in the monastic life a
