Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/233

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chief centre of one part of our story, leaves the world by a living death. The new Earl of Surrey, if not already dead, passes away without anything further to record of him; Walter Giffard, old as a man, but young as an earl, still lives on. But younger men are coming into sight. William of Eu, the son of the still living Count Robert, has already come before us as a chief actor in our story, and we shall see him as the chiefest sufferer. But above all, two men, whom we have hitherto seen only by fits and starts, now come to the front as chief actors on both sides of the sea. Before we enter on the details of Norman affairs, it will be well to try clearly to take in the character and position of two famous bearers of the same name, great alike in England, in Normandy, and in France, Robert of Bellême, afterwards of Shrewsbury, of Bridgenorth, and of both Montgomeries, and Robert, Count of the French county of Meulan, heir of the great Norman house of Beaumont, and forefather of the great English house of Leicester.

The two Rogers, fathers of the two Roberts, are still living; but for the rest of their days they play a part quite secondary to that played by their sons. Robert of Bellême, the eldest son of Roger of Montgomery, has already come before us several times, most prominently as a sharer in the rebellion raised by the present Duke against his father in Normandy and in the rebellion raised on his behalf against his brother. As son of the slain Countess Mabel, he was heir of the house of Talvas, heir alike of their possessions and of their reputed wickedness. Lord through his mother of the castle from which he took his name, lord of a crowd of other castles on the border-lands of Normandy, Perche, and Maine, Robert of Bellême, Robert Talvas, stands forth for the present as the son of Mabel rather