ore than Fulbert could let pass. In the
intimate relations of teacher and pupil Abelard also found his
opportunity; and the two were soon plainly lovers in the eyes of all the
world save Fulbert, who refused to believe in the treachery of his
friend and the shame of his niece. Abelard, who was in his thirty-ninth
year, loved with all the ardor of youth; he wrote passionate love songs,
which were long popular but have been lost; he neglected his work, and
devoted his time to Heloise instead of to his lectures on theology. At
last even Fulbert could no longer refuse to believe. The lovers were
separated, but continued to meet in secret. Not long after the first
discovery of their relations by her uncle, Heloise found herself about
to become a mother. Abelard stole her away one night, while Fulbert was
absent, and fled with her to Brittany, where she remained with his
sister until after the birth of her son, whom she named Astrolabe.

To appease Fulbert, who was thirsting for revenge but dared not pursue
the pair into Brittany, the stronghold of Abelard's family, Abelard
proposed to marry Heloise, provided the union be kept secret, so as not
to jeopardize his interests or prospects in the Church. Heloise, devoted
body and soul to Abelard, would not hear of a marriage which might ruin
his career, and was with difficulty brought to consent even to a secret
union. Fulbert, seeing no other means of redress, accepted Abelard's
proposition, and gave his word to keep the marriage a secret. Heloise
and Abelard secretly came back to Paris and were wedded a few days
later, the ceremony being performed at dawn, in the presence of Fulbert
and a few of his friends.

But the temporary disappearance from Paris of so noteworthy a person as
Abelard could not be concealed. The whole town had known of his passion
for Heloise, and the gossips now guessed, no doubt, why he had
disappeared, and why Heloise also had gone. We do not need to be told
that the surmises made, all so dishonorable to his niece, must have been
galling in the extreme to Fulbert. He could not endure the shame of his
niece, and tried to quell the scandal by letting the news of the
marriage leak out. Abelard says that Fulbert told it himself, in
violation of his oath of secrecy--for which we can hardly blame him as
much as Abelard does. The devoted Heloise, to protect Abelard, flatly
denied the marriage; not all Fulbert's entreaties and threats could move
her to admit that