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the glory of God and the Christian Faith and so earn a remission of his sins.
    So must his grandfather – Robert’s namesake – have felt. Robert the Magnificent, they had called him. He had been a second son and could not tolerate that his elder brother should inherit Normandy. So he had tried to wrest it from him and, legend had it, had poisoned him. After that, his conscience had smote him so continuously that he finally decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the hope of wiping out his sins. And he, the present Duke Robert? Well, he had chafed against his father’s delay in granting him the Duchy and when they had met in combat had come near to killing him. So he had need of expiation too.
    If he were to go to Jerusalem to join in this Holy War he would need more money, for he would have to equip an army which would be worthy of him. And how could he do this in his circumstances? He had never been able to keep money. Perhaps it was this failing which had incensed his father, for the Conqueror was avaricious in the extreme and never spent money unless it was going to bring him some good which would be more beneficial than the sum spent. But Robert could never resist giving money to his friends, to his mistresses, to any who asked for it. Money and possessions were to be enjoyed, not hoarded; and he found great pleasure in giving. Unhappily he often gave what was not histo give; consequently he was invariably in dire straits.
    Now he was as penniless as usual and he desperately needed money to prepare himself to join the Crusade.
    What could he do?
    He sent for Alan, Duke of Bretagne, his brother-in-law. Alan had married his sister Constance and was now a widower, for after a few years of marriage Constance had died. Alan was looking for a suitable wife, and having been the husband of one of the Conqueror’s daughters he was looking high.
    An idea had come to Robert.
    When Alan came to him, Robert told him that he had a mind to join the Crusade.
    â€˜I need money,’ said Robert, ‘more urgently than you need a wife.’
    â€˜You would need a fortune, my lord, to equip yourself for this venture.’
    â€˜And where should I find it? If my father had left me England . . .’
    Alan was silent. Rufus was showing himself to be a more able ruler in England than Robert was in Normandy, and he doubted whether Robert would have been more able to equip a crusade if he had been King of England than he was as Duke of Normandy.
    â€˜I have been thinking of my brother Rufus, for I believe I could get the money from him.’
    â€˜Has he so much money?’
    â€˜He has means of raising it. He could tax the people of England.’
    â€˜Would he do this for you?’
    â€˜If the bargain was attractive enough.’
    â€˜How could that be so?’
    â€˜If I offered him something he would like to have . . . in pawn, say. For a sum of money to be repaid on my return from the Holy Land I would offer him . . .’ Robert paused, and Alan looked at him in disbelief. Robert lowered his eyes and said, ‘Normandy.’
    Alan stared at the Duke.
    Robert squirmed uneasily. ‘It would only be for a few years. He would be a kind of Regent. It would protect theDuchy against my enemies. I have decided that for a sum of 10,000 marks I will offer him Normandy. It is to be returned to me when I come back and repay the loan.’
    Alan was too dismayed to comment and Robert went on: ‘I want you to go to my brother and lay this suggestion before him. At the same time you might well find a wife. The royal Athelings are in an abbey at Rumsey of which one of them is the head. The eldest girl is Edith and marriageable. You might well find that she is a suitable bride for you; and in view of the project you will be laying before him, I think my brother will be in a temper to approve the suit.’
    So Alan set out for England.
    When Rufus heard the