nd the stiffest royal neck must
bend to him who has the deep coffers. It is gold and his high hand that
will set my Philip by the side of kings. Lord Jesus, what a fortune I
have made for him! There is coined money at the goldsmiths' and in my
cellars, and the ships at the ports, and a hundred busy looms, and lands
in Hainault and Artois, and fair houses in Bruges and Ghent. Boats on
the Rhine and many pack trains between Antwerp and Venice are his, and
a wealth of preciousness lies in his name with the Italian merchants.
Likewise there is this dwelling of mine, with plenishing which few kings
could buy. My sands sink in the glass, but as I lie a-bed I hear the
bustle of wains and horses in the streets, and the talk of shipfolk, and
the clatter of my serving men beneath, and I know that daily, hourly,
more riches flow hither to furnish my son's kingdom."

The monk's eyes sparkled at this vision of wealth, and he remembered his
errand.

"A most noble heritage. But if the Sire God in His inscrutable
providence should call your son to His holy side, what provision have
you made for so mighty a fortune? Does your daughter then share?"

The face on the pillows became suddenly wicked and very old. The eyes
were lit with hate.

"Not a bezant of which I have the bequeathing. She has something from
Willebald, and her dull husband makes a livelihood. 'Twill suffice for
the female brats, of whom she has brought three into the world to cumber
it.... By the Gospels, she will lie on the bed she has made. I did not
scheme and toil to make gold for such leaden souls."

"But if your most worthy son should die ere he has begot children, have
you made no disposition?" The monk's voice was pointed with anxiety,
for was not certainty on this point the object of his journey? The woman
perceived it and laughed maliciously.

"I have made dispositions. Such a chapel will be builded in the New Kirk
as Rome cannot equal. Likewise there will be benefactions for the poor
and a great endowment for the monks at St. Sauveur. If my seed is not to
continue on earth I will make favour in Paradise."

"And we of Cluny, madam?" The voice trembled in spite of its training.

"Nay I have not forgotten Cluny. Its Abbot shall have the gold flagons
from Jerusalem and some wherewithal in money. But what is this talk?
Philip will not die, and like his mother he loves Holy Church and will
befriend her in all her works.... Listen, father, it is long past the