Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/288

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Roger of Toesny, the warlike pilgrim of Spain, was succeeded by Ralph, who has so often played his part in our story, and whom we last met in Duke Robert's army before Le Mans. The widow of Roger, the mother of Ralph, had married Richard Count of Evreux, and was by him the mother of the present Count William. But this near kindred by birth had less strength to bind the brothers together than the fierce rivalry of their wives had to set them at feud with one another. The jealousy of these two warlike ladies kept a large part of Normandy in a constant uproar. Our historian bitterly laments the amount of bloodshed and havoc which was the result of their rivalry. Heloise was of the house of the Counts of Nevers, the Burgundian city by the Loire, a descent which carries us a little out of our usual geographical range. Tall, handsome, and ready of speech, she ruled her husband and the whole land of Evreux with an absolute sway. Her will was everything; the counsels of the barons of the county went for nothing. Violent and greedy, she quarrelled with many*