" It is not my custom to strip before I go to bed," replied the Conqueror ; " and as long as I live, I will not divide my native realm, Normandy, with another, for it is written in the holy evangelists, ' Every kingdom divided against itself shall become desolate.' " " If it is inconvenient for thee to keep thy word, I will depart from Normandy, and seek justice from strangers, here I will not remain a subject," retorted Robert, with equal pride and scorn. " Par le splendeur de Dé," shouted "William, half unsheathing his sword. " It is not to be borne, that he who owes his existence to me, should aspire to be my rival in mine own dominions. May the curse of Cain light upon thy undutiful head." Thus they parted, Robert to take refuge with his mother's brother, in Flanders, and "William to return to his distracted kingdom, where the fires of civil war still smouldered in the ashes of freedom. In such scenes was Adela nurtured, and thus in an atmosphere of intrigue and superstition, was a character naturally penetrating and impetuous, prepared to devise and carry forward the wildest schemes. Public calamities, and domestic vexations, impaired the peace and irritated the temper of the English monarch. Bodesmen from the north, brought news of leagues and plots against his power, while messengers from Normandy, conveyed tidings of the disaffections of his peers, and the hostilities of the French king. Richard, his most dutiful and affectionate son, had accompanied him to England. The young prince was exceedingly fond of the chase, and often spent whole days hunting in the New Forest of Hampshire. The malaria of the depopulated district, and the painful emotions awakened in his sensitive nature, by the sight of famishing wretches, vainly seeking food and shelter, brought on a delirious fever, which soon terminated his life. He was interred in Winchester Cathedral. The last tone of the curfew bell was reverberating 32 HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.