tied the duke's hands. From the moment of the
council, whether Baldwin called on William to ful-
fil his pledge in vain or no, the courts of Bruges
and of Rouen steered apart again. Baldwin fell
back on his old alliance with the house of Godwine.
The marriage of Judith with Tostig announced his
change of policy, and promised to bind the earl and
the count inseparably together. The fall of God-
wine only brought out into clearer light the friend-
ship of Flanders. It was in Flanders that the earl
found refuge in his exile. It was from Bruges that
his intrigues with his English supporters were car-
ried on. His fleet was gathered in the Scheldt, and
Flemish seamen were mingled with his own. Will-
iam, with his own duchy still ill in hand and France
watching jealously across his southern border, knew
well that the estrangement of Baldwin barred any
hope of attack over sea. Nor was this estrange-
ment the least weighty of the dangers which threat-
ened William at home, for the hostility of such a
neighbor was sure to stir into life the smouldering
discontent of the Norman baronage.

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