still further recompence : Robert, alone, or nearly alone, uninfluenced by such considerations, was never swayed, as will appear hereafter, either by hope of advantage, or fear of loss. Let no one, therefore, suspect me of adulation, if I relate these matters circumstantially: for I shall make no sacrifice to favour; but pure historical truth, without any stain of falsehood, shall be handed down to the knowledge of posterity.
It has been related of the earl, how, first[1] of all the nobility, after David, king of Scotland, he confirmed, by oath, his fealty to his sister, the empress, for the kingdom of England, and the duchy of Normandy, in the presence of his father Henry. There was some contention, as I have said, between him and Stephen earl of Boulogne, afterwards king of England, who should swear first; Robert alleging the preference of a son, Stephen the dignity of a nephew.
It has been recorded too, what reasonable causes, from December, when his father died, till after the ensuing Easter, detained him in Normandy, from coming immediately into England to avenge his sister's injuries. And when at last he did come, with what just deliberation, and with what proviso, he consented to do homage to the king; and how justly, in the following year, and thenceforward, he abjured it.
Nor has his second arrival in England from Normandy, after his father's death, with his sister, been omitted: where, relying on the favour of God, and his innate courage, he ventured himself, as into a desert full of wild beasts, though scarcely accompanied by one hundred and forty horsemen. Neither has it been unnoticed, that, amid such tumult of war, while anxious watch was kept on aU sides, he boldly came to Bristol with only twelve horsemen, having committed his sister to safe custody, as he supposed, at Arundel: nor with what prudence, at that time, he received her from the very midst of her enemies, and afterwards advanced her in all things to the utmost of his power; ever busied on her account, and neglecting his own interest to secure hers, while some persons taking advantage of his absence, curtailed his territories on every side: and, lastly, urged by what necessity, namely to rescue his son-in-law, whom the king had
- ↑ This seems an oversight: as he had before related, more than once that Stephen preceded Robert in taking the oath to Matilda.
