but it was not good sense.

But she was overruled, and the private marriage took place. Now for

Fulbert! The heart so wounded should be healed at last; the proud spirit

so tortured should find rest again; the humbled head should be lifted up

once more. He proclaimed the marriage in the high places of the city and

rejoiced that dishonor had departed from his house. But lo! Abelard

denied the marriage! Heloise denied it! The people, knowing the former

circumstances, might have believed Fulbert had only Abelard denied it,

but when the person chiefly interested--the girl herself--denied it, they

laughed, despairing Fulbert to scorn.

The poor canon of the cathedral of Paris was spiked again. The last hope

of repairing the wrong that had been done his house was gone. What next?

Human nature suggested revenge. He compassed it. The historian says:

"Ruffians, hired by Fulbert, fell upon Abelard by night, and

inflicted upon him a terrible and nameless mutilation."

I am seeking the last resting place of those "ruffians." When I find it

I shall shed some tears on it, and stack up some bouquets and

immortelles, and cart away from it some gravel whereby to remember that

howsoever blotted by crime their lives may have been, these ruffians did

one just deed, at any rate, albeit it was not warranted by the strict

letter of the law.

163

The Innocents Abroad