--According to another version of the tale, the
earliest interview between the prince and his fair mistress, took place
as Robert was returning from the chace, with his mind full of anger
against the inhabitants of Falaise, for having presumed to kill the deer
which he had commanded should be preserved for his royal pastime. In
this offence the curriers of the town had borne the principal share, and
they were therefore principally marked out for punishment. But,
fortunately for them, Arlette, the daughter of one Verpray, the most
culpable of the number, met the offended Duke while riding through the
street, and with her beauty so fascinated him, that she not only
obtained the pardon of her father and his associates, but became his
mistress, and continued so as long as he lived. From her, if we may give
credence to the old chroniclers, is derived our English word, _harlot_.
The fruit of their union was William the Conqueror, whose illegitimate
birth, and the low extraction of his mother, served on more than one
occasion as a pretext for conspiracies against his throne, and were
frequently the subject of personal mortification to himself.--The walls
in this part of the castle are from eight to nine feet thick. A portion
of them has been hollowed out, so as to form a couple of small rooms.
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