It was just at this unfortunate juncture that he went to live in the
house of a certain Canon Fulbert, of the cathedral, whose brilliant
niece, Héloïse, had at the age of seventeen just returned from a convent
at Argenteuil, where she had been at school. Fulbert, who was proud of
her talents, and glad to get the price of Abélard's board, took the
latter into his house and intrusted him with the full care of Héloïse's
further education, telling him even to chastise her if necessary. So
complete was Fulbert's confidence in Abélard, that no restriction was
put upon the companionship of teacher and pupil. The result was that
Abélard and Héloïse, both equally inexperienced in matters of the heart,
soon conceived for each other an overwhelming passion, comparable only
to that of Faust and Gretchen. And the result in both cases was the
same. Abélard, as a great scholar, could not think of marriage; and if
he had, Héloïse would have refused to ruin his career by marrying him.
So it came to pass that when their secret, never very carefully guarded,
became no longer a secret, and threatened the safety of Héloïse, the
only thing that her lover could do for her was to carry her off secretly
to his home in Palais, and place her in charge of his sister. Here she
remained until the birth of her child, which received the name of
Astralabius, Abélard meanwhile continuing his work in Paris. And here
all the nobility of his character comes out. Though Fulbert and his
friends were, naturally enough, furious at what they regarded as his
utter treachery, and though they tried to murder him, he protected
himself, and as soon as Héloïse was fit to travel, hastened to Palais,
and insisted upon removing her to Paris and making her his lawful wife.
Héloïse used every argument which her fertile mind could suggest to
dissuade him from a step which she felt must be his ruin, at the same
time expressing her entire willingness to stand in a less honored
relation to him. But Abélard was inexorable. Taking her to Paris, he
procured the consent of her relatives to the marriage (which they agreed