Had Maugis been less absorbed by the prospect of being united to Yolande when he first entered the court of King Yon, he would have seen among the entourage of the king an evil face that glanced at him in no friendly way. It was that of a monk, who had but recently arrived from the north, and whose great learning and piety had gained him almost instant favor and an influential position in court. This friar, Anselm Gorieux, was the uncle of the perfidious Ganelon, who was inspired by bitter hatred and jealousy of Maugis. This monk hated Maugis, as well on his own account, because in a conflict at wit with Maugis, at a banquet, the latter had turned the laugh against him and caused his proud soul to chafe under the humiliation, and to resolve upon the direst revenge. He had purposely come to the court of King Yon, in the interest of his nephew, urged by him to seek the ear of Yolande and prejudice Maugis, persistently hoping that with his rival dethroned from her favor his own chances might improve, and that he yet might be able to win her. The crafty monk found little difficulty in gaining the confidence of Yolande, to whose fervent religious nature his great piety, humility and learning at once appealed. Cautiously, so as not to alarm his timid prey, he held much discourse with her upon the awful power of the evil one; how he possessed himself of the souls of those who were willing to barter them for worldly gain. Then he held up to her, casually, Maugis as such a one; told her that even an emissary of Satan had abode under his father’s roof, and under the guise of a learned man of the east had taught the young man the worst of black arts and sorceries. The monk told her Maugis had been won over to Satan, had become a sorcerer, and a practicer of all the foul arts. He showed her how the great exploits that had made him the hero of the day were simply manifestations of the evil one to whom he had sold his soul; that his time of glory was brief, and he, and all who loved him, would finally rest under the curse of God. Yolande, as she slowly comprehended these dreadful revelations, was grief-stricken and dismayed. Her idol was shattered, and although she concealed the anguish that consumed her heart, she nearly sobbed her reason away in the quiet of her chamber. The surprise of Friar Anselm was indeed great at the unexpected presence of Maugis at the court. He had not looked for this and would have certainly devoted himself to prejudicing the king also, only the exciting events then occurring gave him no opportunity. Meanwhile a force of the Saracens was devastating the suburbs of Bordeaux, and the alarm caused by this movement spread quickly.