een
them, and that Rosamond chose the poison, and, drinking it, died. This
story, however, was not true, for it is now known that Rosamond lived
many years after this time, though she was separated from the king. It
is thought that her connection with the king continued for about two
years after his marriage with Eleanora. She then left him. It may be
that she did not know before that time that the king was married. She
may have supposed that she was herself his lawful wife, as, indeed, it
is possible that she may actually have been so. At any rate, soon
after she and Eleanora became acquainted with each other's existence,
Rosamond retired to a convent, and lived there in complete seclusion
all the rest of her days.

The name of this convent was Godestow. It was situated near Oxford.
Rosamond became a great favorite with the nuns while she remained at
the convent, which was nearly twenty years. During this time the king
made many donations to the convent for Rosamond's sake, and the
jealousy of the queen against her beautiful rival, of course,
continued unabated. It was, indeed, this difficulty in respect to
Rosamond that was one of the chief causes of the domestic trouble
which always existed between Henry and the queen. The world at large
have always been most disposed to sympathize with Rosamond in this
quarrel. She was nearly of the king's own age, and his attachment to
her arose, doubtless, from sincere affection; whereas the queen was
greatly his senior, and had inveigled him, as it were, into a marriage
with her, through motives of the most calculating and mercenary
character.

Then, moreover, Rosamond either was, or was supposed to be, a lady of
great gentleness and loveliness of spirit. She was very kind to the
poor, and while in the convent she was very assiduously devoted to her
religious duties. Eleanora, on the other hand, was a very unprincipled
and heartless woman, and she had been so loose and free in her own
manner of living too, as every body said and believed, that it was
with a very ill grace that she could find any fault with her husband.

Thus, under the circumstances of the case, the world has always been
most inclined to sympathize with Rosamond rather than with the queen.
The question which we ought to sympathize with depends upon which was
really the wife of Henry. He may have been truly married to Rosamond,
or at least some ceremony may have been performed which she honestly
considered as