The
surprised Lothario ran hither and thither to escape their blows, crying
out that he was the king. In vain his cries; they did not or would not
believe him; and not until he had been most soundly beaten, and their
arms were weary with the exercise, did they open the door of the
apartment and suffer the crest-fallen reprobate to escape.
This would seem an odd means of gaining the affection of a truant
husband, but it is said to have had this effect upon Henry, his wronged
wife from that moment gaining a place in his heart, into which she had
fairly cudgelled herself. The man was really of susceptible disposition,
and her invincible fidelity had at length touched him, despite himself.
From that moment he ceased his efforts to get rid of her, treated her
with more consideration, and finally settled down to the fact that a
beautiful character was some atonement for a homely face, and that
Bertha was a woman well worthy his affection.
We have now to describe the most noteworthy event in the life of Henry
IV., and the one which has made his name famous in history,--his contest
with the great ecclesiastic Hildebrand, who had become pope under the
title of Gregory VII.
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