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 the King and many more present, who were converted.

Alia instantly condemned the traitor knight to death; and Constance, notwithstanding all his untruth and perfidy, had pity on his fate. After this the King wedded Constance with great solemnity, and so this shining star of holiness became a queen. All rejoiced in the event but Donegild, the king's mother, a tyrannical and cruel woman: her wicked and proud heart was wrung at the thought of her son's marrying a creature whom no one knew, or whence she came, or what she was.

After the lapse of some months, the King, being compelled to march against his old enemies the Scots, committed his wife, who was in expectation of presenting him with a child, to the protection of a bishop and his friend the constable. The meek and humble Constance in due course of time, and while her lord was still away, brought into the world a son and heir, who was christened Maurice. And the constable despatched a messenger with a letter to the King, informing him of the event. The messenger, however, thinking