Page:The Queens of England.djvu/22

12 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. the little princess peace was concluded ; and, to ratify the treaty by an interchange of friendly intercourse, Malcolm invited Robert to officiate as sponsor to this, his first child. Prince Robert, therefore, visited Scotland and saw his young god- daughter baptized ; and, out of compliment to him, Editha was changed to Matilda, the name of his own well-beloved mother, Matilda of Flanders, wife of the Conqueror. The young princess grew up under the fostering care of her mother. Margaret was as examplary in her conduct toward her children as toward her husband ; indeed, from the accounts left by her chaplain and biographer, Turgot of Durham, she must have been a noble creature. To this said Turgot was confided the charge of the children of Malcolm and Margaret, and he well deserved the trust ; for he had followed the Queen of Scotland through all her changing fortunes with unwearied devotion. Under his care Matilda grew up, educated in a much higher degree than was usual even to princesses in those early times. On the accession of William Rufus, Edgar, who in child- hood had been brought up on terms of friendship with the princes of Normandy, again repaired to England, or, most probably, was invited thither by the good-natured but hasty and weak-minded Rufus. Meanwhile, Christina remained with her sister. She seems to have been a woman of violent temper, and strong, bitter prejudices, the very opposite of the mild and pious Margaret. She was a nun, and, like most devotees, wished to bind every one with the same fetters which she had wound around her- self. All her influence with the queen her sister was exerted to cause her to devote the young Matilda to the vows of the cloister; and probably the harsh ascetic would have succeeded in winning Margaret over to doom her child to that dreary life, but for the interference of King Malcolm. He, the wild, heathen ruler of an equally heathen people, — as saintly Chris- tina no doubt thought, — had no idea of consenting to his daugh- ter's self-immolation. One day the child was brought into his presence wearing a novice's veil, the token of her future fate. The indignant father immediately tore it off, declaring to Alan, Duke of Bretagne, who stood by, "that he would have his daughter a wedded wife, not a veiled nun." Thus Christina's plans were defeated, and the queen herself was too submissive and right-minded to contest her husband's