After Charles ignored Stephens' advice and married the Lombard princess Desiderata, the story of Himiltrude might have been altered and forgotten. Or, perhaps, Charles' resentment over a deformed son led him to divorce Himiltrude once an opportune and advantageous time arrived. Yet another possibility is that, when Pepin's hunchback became evident, stories needed to change to accommodate a different heir. At any rate, concepts like legitimacy and rightful inheritance were very likely more fluid for the Carolingians than they were for later monarchies—an ambiguity that continues to provoke debate about Pepin's disinheritance. What we do know fairly certainly is that Charles fathered a son with a woman named Himiltrude, with whom he may or may not have been married.