Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/449

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that the milder mood of the Red King had not wholly passed away. If Anselm had been thrust aside with any violent or sarcastic answer, it would surely have passed into one of the stock anecdotes of the reign. Our only other description of the scene paints Rufus as held back from any disrespectful treatment of Anselm by a lingering reverence for the friend of his parents. He turned the matter off with a laugh. He could not hinder what men chose to say of him; but so holy a man as Anselm ought not to believe such stories. It is not even clear whether Anselm brought himself to speak at all on the particular business which had brought him to the King's presence. King and Abbot parted; it would seem that nothing was done about the affairs of Bec for the present; but we may gather that, at some later time, the lands of the monastery were relieved from the burthens of which they complained.

Anselm now went on to Chester, where he found his friend Earl Hugh restored to health. But the change in the foundation at Saint Werburh's still needed his presence, and the special affairs of his own house had also

obscœnitatem'' quibus regem accusabat fama incunctanter aperuit." He then struck out the strong words in Italics and changed them to the vague "cuncta."]
 * [Footnote: (see his editor's note) to have first written, "Data secreti copia, ''flagitiorum