At Agincourt

by G. A. Henty

  Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team

  AT AGINCOURT

  By G. A. Henty

  GUY AYLMER SAVES THE KING'S LIFE AT THE BATTLE OFAGINCOURT.]

  PREFACE

  The long and bloody feud between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy--whichfor many years devastated France, caused a prodigious destruction of lifeand property, and was not even relaxed in the presence of a common enemy--is very fully recorded in the pages of Monstrellet and other contemporaryhistorians. I have here only attempted to relate the events of the earlyportion of the struggle--from its commencement up to the astonishingvictory of Agincourt, won by a handful of Englishmen over the chivalry ofFrance. Here the two factions, with the exception of the Duke of Burgundyhimself, laid aside their differences for the moment, only to renew themwhile France still lay prostrate at the feet of the English conqueror.

  At this distance of time, even with all the records at one's disposal, itis difficult to say which party was most to blame in this disastrous civilwar, a war which did more to cripple the power of France than was everaccomplished by English arms. Unquestionably Burgundy was the first toenter upon the struggle, but the terrible vengeance taken by theArmagnacs,--as the Orleanists came to be called,--for the murderscommitted by the mob of Paris in alliance with him, was of almostunexampled atrocity in civil war, and was mainly responsible for theterrible acts of cruelty afterwards perpetrated upon each other by bothparties. I hope some day to devote another volume to the story of thisdesperate and unnatural struggle.

  G. A. HENTY.

  CONTENTS

  I. A FEUDAL CASTLE

  II. TROUBLES IN FRANCE

  III. A SIEGE

  IV. A FATAL ACCIDENT

  V. HOSTAGES

  VI. IN PARIS

  VII. IN THE STREETS OF PARIS

  VIII. A RIOT

  IX. A STOUT DEFENCE

  X. AFTER THE FRAY

  XI. DANGER THREATENED

  XII. IN HIDING

  XIII. THE MASTERS OF PARIS

  XIV. PLANNING MASSACRE

  XV. A RESCUE

  XVI. THE ESCAPE

  XVII. A LONG PAUSE

  XVIII. KATARINA

  XIX. AGINCOURT

  XX. PENSHURST

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  GUY AYLMER SAVES THE KING'S LIFE AT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.

  GUY HAS HIS HEAD BOUND UP AFTER A BOUT AT QUARTER-STAFF.

  "THE TWO MEN WHO LIT THE ALARM FIRES RODE INTO THE CASTLE."

  "SIR EUSTACE GAVE A LOUD CRY, FOR LYING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIR WAS THEFORM OF HIS SON."

  THE LADY MARGARET MAKES HER OBEISANCE TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

  GUY AND LONG TOM COME TO THE RESCUE OF COUNT CHARLES.

  "TOM'S BOW TWANGED, AND THE ARROW STRUCK THE HORSEMAN UNDER THE ARM-PIT."

  "THE KING EXTENDED HIS HAND TO GUY, WHO WENT ON ONE KNEE TO KISS IT."

  "WELL, COMRADE," SAID SIMON, "I SUPPOSE YOU ARE THE MAN I WAS TOLD WOULDCOME TO-NIGHT?"

  "GUY DELIVERED A SLASHING BLOW ON THE BUTCHER'S CHEEK, AND DASHED PASTHIM."

  GUY WELCOMES THE COUNT OF MONTEPONE AND HIS DAUGHTER TO VILLEROY.

  "KATARINA SWEPT A DEEP CURTSEY, AND WENT OFF WITH A MERRY LAUGH."

  AT AGINCOURT

  CHAPTER I -- A FEUDAL CASTLE

  "And is it true that our lord and lady sail next week for their estate inFrance?"

  "Ay, it is true enough, and more is the pity; it was a sad day for us allwhen the king gave the hand of his ward, our lady, to this baron ofArtois."

  "They say she was willing enough, Peter."

  "Ay, ay, all say she loved him, and, being a favourite with the queen, shegot her to ask the king to accede to the knight's suit; and no wonder, heis as proper a man as eyes can want to look on--tall and stately, and theysay brave. His father and grandfather both were Edward's men, and heldtheir castle for us; his father was a great friend of the Black Prince,and he, too, took a wife from England. Since then things have not gonewell with us in France, and they say that our lord has had difficulty inkeeping clear of the quarrels that are always going on out there betweenthe great French lords; and, seeing that we have but little power inArtois, he has to hold himself discreetly, and to keep aloof as far as hecan from the strife there, and bide his time until the king sends an armyto win back his own again. But I doubt not that, although our lady'swishes and the queen's favour may have gone some way with him, the kingthought more of the advantage of keeping this French noble,--whose fathershave always been faithful vassals of the crown, and who was himselfEnglish on his mother's side,--faithful to us, ready for the time when theroyal banner will flutter in the wind again, and blood will flow as it didat Cressy and Poitiers.

  "The example of a good knight like Sir Eustace taking the field for uswith his retainers might lead others to follow his example; besides, therewere several suitors for our lady's hand, and, by giving her to thisFrench baron, there would be less offence and heart-burning than if he hadchosen one among her English suitors. And, indeed, I know not that we havesuffered much from its being so; it is true that our lord and lady livemuch on their estates abroad, but at least they are here part of theirtime, and their castellan does not press us more heavily during theirabsence than does our lord when at home."

  "He is a goodly knight, is Sir Aylmer, a just man and kindly, and, being acousin of our lady's, they do wisely and well in placing all things in hishands during their absence."

  "Ay, we have nought to grumble at, for we might have done worse if we hadhad an English lord for our master, who might have called us into thefield when he chose, and have pressed us to the utmost of his rightswhenever he needed money."

  The speakers were a man and woman, who were standing looking on at a partyof men practising at the butts on the village green at Summerley, one ofthe hamlets on the estates of Sir Eustace de Villeroy, in Hampshire.

  "Well shot!" the man exclaimed, as an archer pierced a white wand at adistance of eighty yards. "They are good shots all, and if our lord andlady have fears of troubles in France, they do right well in taking a bandof rare archers with them. There are but five-and-twenty of them, but theyare all of the best. When they offered prizes here a month since for thebowmen of Hants and Sussex and Dorset, methought they had some good reasonwhy they should give such high prizes as to bring hither the best men fromall three counties, and we were all proud that four of our own men shouldhave held their own so well in such company, and especially that Tom, themiller's son, should have beaten the best of them. He is captain of theband, you know, but almost all the others shoot nigh as well; there is notone of them who cannot send an arrow straight into the face of a foe at ahundred and twenty yards. There were some others as good who would fainhave been of the party, but our lady said she would take no married men,and she was right. They go for five years certain, and methinks a manfights all the better when he knows there is no one in England praying forhis return, and that if he falls, there is no widow or children to bewailhis loss. There are as many stout men-at-arms going too; so the Castle ofVilleroy will be a hard nut for anyone to crack, for I hear they can put ahundred and fifty of their vassals there in the field."

  "We shall miss Sir Aylmer's son Guy," the woman said; "he is ever down atthe village green when there are sports going on. There is not one of hisage who can send an arrow so straight to the mark, and not many of themen; and he can hold his own with a quarter-staff too."

  "Ay, dame; he is a stout lad, and a hearty one. They say that at thecastle he is ever practising with arms, and that though scarce sixteen hecan wield a sword and heavy battle-axe as well as any man-at-arms there."

  "He is gentle too," the woman said. "Since his mother's death he
oftencomes down with wine and other goodies if anyone is ill, and he speaks assoftly as a girl. There is not one on the estate but has a good word forhim, nor doubts that he will grow up as worthy a knight as his father,though gentler perhaps in his manner, and less grave in face, for he wasever a merry lad. Since the death of his lady mother two years ago he hasgone about sadly, still of late he has gotten over his loss somewhat, andhe can laugh heartily again. I wonder his father can bear to part withhim."

  "Sir Eustace knows well enough that he cannot always keep the boy by hisside, dame; and that if a falcon is to soar well, he must try his wingsearly. He goes as page, does he not?"

  "Ay, but more, methinks, as companion to young Henry, who has, they say,been sickly from a child, and, though better now, has scarce the making ofa stalwart knight in him. His young brother Charles is a sturdy littlechap, and bids fair to take after his father; and little Lady Agnes, whocomes between them, is full of fire and spirit.

  "Yes; methinks Guy will have a pleasant time of it out there; that is, ifthere are no fresh troubles. I doubt not that in two or three years hewill be one of our lord's esquires, and if he has a chance of displayinghis courage and skill, may be back among us a dubbed knight before manyyears have passed over our heads. France is a rare place for gaininghonours, and so it may well be, for I see not that we gain much else byour king's possessions there."

  "There was plenty of spoil brought over, dame, after Cressy and Poitiers."

  "Ay, but it soon goes; easy come, easy go, you know; and though they saythat each man that fought there brought home a goodly share of spoil, Iwill warrant me the best part went down their throats ere many months hadpassed."

  "'Tis ever so, dame; but I agree with you, and deem that it would bebetter for England if we did not hold a foot of ground in France, and ifEnglish kings and nobles were content to live quietly among their people.We have spent more money than ever we made in these wars, and even wereour kings to become indeed, as they claim, kings of France as well asEngland, the ill would be much greater, as far as I can see, for us all.Still there may be things, dame, that we country folks don't understand,and I suppose that it must be so, else Parliament would not be so willingto vote money always when the kings want it for wars with France. The warsin France don't affect us as much as those with Scotland and Wales. Whenour kings go to France to fight they take with them only such as arewilling to go, men-at-arms and archers; but when we have troubles such astook place but five or six years ago, when Douglas and Percy and the Welshall joined against us, then the lords call out their vassals and thesheriffs the militia of the county, and we have to go to fight willy-nilly. Our lord had a hundred of us with him to fight for the king atShrewsbury. Nigh thirty never came back again. That is worse than theFrench wars, dame."

  "Don't I know it, for wasn't my second boy one of those who never cameback. Ay, ay, they had better be fighting in France, perhaps, for thatlets out the hot blood that might otherwise bring on fighting at home."

  "That is so, dame, things are all for the best, though one does not alwayssee it."

  A week later all the tenantry gathered in front of the castle to wish God-speed to their lord and lady, and to watch the following by which theywere accompanied. First there passed half a dozen mounted men-at-arms, whowere to accompany the party but half a day's march and then to return withSir Aylmer. Next to these rode Sir Eustace and Lady Margaret, still abeautiful woman, a worthy mate of her noble-looking husband. On her otherside rode Sir Aylmer; then came John Harpen, Sir Eustace's esquire; besidewhom trotted Agnes, a bright, merry-faced girl of twelve. Guy rode withthe two boys; then came twenty-four men-at-arms, many of whom had foughtwell and stoutly at Shrewsbury; while Tom, the miller's son, or, as he wasgenerally called, Long Tom, strode along at the head of twenty-fourbowmen, each of whom carried the long English bow and quiver full ofcloth-yard arrows, and, in addition, a heavy axe at his leathern girdle.

  Behind these were some servitors leading horses carrying provisions forthe journey, and valises with the clothes of Sir Eustace, his wife, andchildren, and a heavy cart drawn by four strong horses with the bundles ofextra garments for the men-at-arms and archers, and several large sheavesof spare arrows. The men-at-arms wore iron caps, as also breast and backpieces. On the shoulders and arms of their leathern jerkins iron ringswere sewn thickly, forming a sort of chain armour, while permittingperfect freedom of the limbs. The archers also wore steel caps, which,like those of the men-at-arms, came low down on the neck and temples. Theyhad on tough leathern frocks, girded in at the waist, and falling to theknee; some of them had also iron rings sewn on the shoulders. Englisharchers were often clad in green cloth, but Sir Eustace had furnished thegarments, and had chosen leather, both as being far more durable, and asoffering a certain amount of defence.

  The frocks were sleeveless, and each man wore cloth sleeves of a colouraccording to his fancy. The band was in all respects a well-appointed one.As Sir Eustace wished to avoid exciting comment among his neighbours, hehad abstained from taking a larger body of men; and it was partly for thisreason that he had decided not to dress the archers in green. But everyman had been carefully picked; the men-at-arms were all powerful fellowswho had seen service; the archers were little inferior in physique, forstrength as well as skill was required in archery, and in choosing the menSir Eustace had, when there was no great difference in point of skill,selected the most powerful among those who were willing to take servicewith him.

  Guy enjoyed the two days' ride to Southampton greatly. It was the firsttime that he had been away from home, and his spirits were high at thusstarting on a career that would, he hoped, bring him fame and honour.Henry and his brother and sister were also in good glee, although thejourney was no novelty to them, for they had made it twice previously.Beyond liking change, as was natural at their age, they cared not whetherthey were at their English or at their French home, as they spoke bothlanguages with equal fluency, and their life at one castle differed butlittle from that at the other.

  Embarking at Portsmouth in a ship that was carrying military stores toCalais, they coasted along the shores of Sussex and of Kent as far asDungeness, and then made across to Calais. It was early in April, theweather was exceptionally favourable, and they encountered no rough seaswhatever. On the way Sir Eustace related to Guy and his sons the eventsthat had taken place in France, and had led up to the civil war that wasraging so furiously there.

  "In 1392, the King of France being seized with madness, the Dukes ofBurgundy and Orleans in a very short time wrested the power of the statefrom the hands of his faithful councillors, the Constable de Clisson, LaRiviere, and others. De Clisson retired to his estate and castle atMontelhery, the two others were seized and thrown into prison. De Clissonwas prosecuted before Parliament as a false and wicked traitor; but theking, acting on the advice of Orleans, who had not then broken with theDukes of Burgundy and Berri, had, after La Riviere and another had been inprison for a year, stopped the prosecution, and restored their estates tothem. Until 1402 the Dukes of Burgundy and Berri were all-powerful, and in1396 a great number of knights and nobles, led by John, Count of Nevers,the eldest son of the Duke of Burgundy, went to the assistance of the Kingof Hungary, which country was being invaded by the Turks. They were,however, on the 28th of September, utterly defeated. The greater portionof them were killed; Nevers and the rest were ransomed and brought home.

  "In 1402 the king, influenced by his wife, Isobel, and his brother, theDuke of Orleans, who were on terms of the closest alliance, placed theentire government in the hands of the latter, who at once began to abuseit to such an extent, by imposing enormous taxes upon the clergy and thepeople, that he paved the way for the return of his uncle of Burgundy topower. On the 27th of April, 1404, Philip the Bold of Burgundy died. Hewas undoubtedly ambitious, but he was also valiant and able, and he hadthe good of France at heart. He was succeeded by his son John, called theFearless, from the bravery that he had displayed in the unfortunateHungarian campaign.
The change was disastrous for France. John was violentand utterly unscrupulous, and capable of any deed to gratify either hispassions, jealousies, or hatreds. At first he cloaked his designs againstOrleans by an appearance of friendship, paid him a visit at his castlenear Vincennes, where he was at the time lying ill. When he recovered, thetwo princes went to mass together, dined at their uncle's, the Duke ofBerri, and together entered Paris; and the Parisians fondly hoped thatthere was an end of the rivalry that had done so much harm. It was,however, but a very short time afterwards that, on the 23d of November,1407, as the Duke of Orleans was returning from having dined with thequeen, and was riding with only two esquires and four or five men on footcarrying torches, twenty armed men sprang out from behind a house andrushed upon him.

  "'I am the Duke of Orleans,' the prince cried; but they hurled him fromhis mule, and as he tried to rise to his feet one blow struck off the handhe raised to protect his head, other blows rained down upon him from axeand sword, and in less than a minute the duke lay dead. The Duke ofBurgundy at first affected grief and indignation, but at the council thenext day he boldly avowed that Orleans had been killed by his orders. Heat once took horse and rode to the frontier of Flanders, which he reachedsafely, though hotly chased by a party of the Duke of Orleans' knights.The duke's widow, who was in the country at the time, hastened up to Pariswith her children, and appealed for justice to the king, who declared thathe regarded the deed done to his brother as done to himself. The Dukes ofBerri and Bourbon, the Constable and Chancellor, all assured her that sheshould have justice; but there was no force that could hope to cope withthat which Burgundy could bring into the field, and when, two monthslater, Burgundy entered Paris at the head of a thousand men-at-arms, noattempt was made at resistance, and the murderer was received withacclamations by the fickle populace.

  "The king at the time was suffering from one of his terrible fits ofinsanity, but a great assembly was held, at which princes, councillors,lords, doctors of law, and prominent citizens were present. A monk of theCordeliers, named John Petit, then spoke for five hours in justificationof the duke, and the result was that the poor insane king was induced tosign letters cancelling the penalty of the crime. For four months the dukeremained absolute master of Paris, disposing of all posts and honours, andsparing no efforts to render himself popular with the burghers. A seriousrebellion breaking out at Liege, and the troops sent against the townbeing repulsed, he was obliged to leave Paris to put down the revolt. Assoon as he had left, the queen and the partisans of Orleans prepared totake advantage of his absence, and two months later Queen Isobel marchedwith the dauphin, now some thirteen years old, from Melun with threethousand men.

  "The Parisians received her with applause, and as soon as she had taken upher quarters at the Louvre, the Dukes of Berri, Bourbon, and Brittany, theConstable, and all the great officers of the court rallied round her. Twodays later the Duchess of Orleans arrived with a long train of mourningcoaches. A great assembly was held, and the king's advocate announced tothem the intention of the king to confer the government upon the queenduring his illness, and produced a document signed by the king to thateffect. The Duchess of Orleans then came forward, and kneeling before thedauphin, begged for justice for the death of her husband, and that shemight be granted an opportunity of refuting the calumnies that John Petithad heaped on the memory of her husband. A week later another greatassembly was held, and the justification of the duke was read, refutingall these imputations, and the duchess's advocate demanded that the dukeshould be forced to make public reparation, and then to be exiled fortwenty years. The dauphin replied that he and all the princes of bloodroyal present held that the charges against the Duke of Orleans had beenamply refuted, and that the demands with reference to the Duke of Burgundyshould be provided for in course of justice.

  "Scarcely had the assembly broken up when it became known that Burgundyand his army was on the way back to Paris. Resistance was out of thequestion; therefore, taking the young dauphin with her, and accompanied byall the members of the royal family, the queen retired to Tours. Burgundy,unscrupulous as he was, finding that although he might remain master ofParis, he could not hope to rule France, except when acting under thepretence of the king's authority, soon sent an embassy to Tours toendeavour to arrange matters. He was able to effect this with the lessdifficulty, that the Duchess of Orleans had just died from grief at herhusband's death, and at the hopelessness of obtaining vengeance on hismurderer. The queen was won to the cause of Burgundy by secret proposalssubmitted to her for a close league between them, and in March a treatywas concluded, and a meeting took place at Chartres, at which the duke,the king, the queen, the royal princes, and the young Duke of Orleans andhis adherents were present.

  "The king declared that he pardoned the duke, and the princes of Orleansconsented to obey his orders and to lay aside all hatred and thoughts ofvengeance, and shortly afterwards Paris welcomed with shouts of joy thereturn of the king and queen and the apparent reconciliation of allparties. But the truce was a brief one; for the princes and adherents ofOrleans might bend before circumstances at the moment, but their feelingswere unchanged.

  "A head of the party was needed, and the young duke married the daughterof Count Bernard d'Armagnac, one of the most powerful and ambitious noblesof the south of France, who at once,--in concert with the Dukes of Berriand Brittany and other lords,--put himself at the head of the Orleansparty. On the 10th of July, 1411, the three princes of Orleans sent a longletter to the king, complaining that no reparation whatever had been madefor the murder of their father, and begging him that, as what was done atChartres was contrary to every principle of law, equity, reason, andjustice, the case should be reopened again. They also made complaintsagainst the Duke of Burgundy for his conduct and abuse of power.

  "As the king was surrounded by Burgundy's creatures no favourable replywas returned, and a formal challenge or declaration of war was, on the18th of July, sent by the princes to the Duke of Burgundy, and bothparties began at once to make preparation for war.

  "Now for my own view of this quarrel. King Henry sent for me a year since,and asked for whom I should hold my castle if Orleans and Burgundy came toblows, adding that Burgundy would be viewed by him with most favour.

  "'My father and grandfather ever fought faithfully in the service ofEngland,' I said; 'but for years past now, the line betwixt your majesty'spossessions and those of France has been drawn in, and my estates andCastle of Villeroy now lie beyond the line, and I am therefore a vassal ofFrance as well as of your majesty. It being known to all men that evenbefore I became Lord of Summerley, on my marriage with your majesty'sward, Mistress Margaret, I, like my father, held myself to be the liegeman of the King of England. I am therefore viewed with much hostility bymy neighbours, and right gladly would they seize upon any excuse to laycomplaint against me before the king, in order that I might be deprived ofmy fief and castle.

  "'This I would fain hold always for your majesty; and, seeing how it issituated but a few miles across the frontier, it is, I would humbly submitto you, of importance to your majesty that it should be held by onefaithful to you--since its possession in the hands of an enemy wouldgreatly hinder any English army marching out from Calais to the invasionof France. It is a place of some strength now; but were it in French handsit might be made very much stronger, and would cost much time and loss ofmen to besiege. At present your majesty is in alliance with Burgundy, butnone can say how the war will go, or what changes will take place; andshould the Orleanists gain the upper hand, they will be quick to takeadvantage of my having fought for Burgundy, and would confiscate myestates and hand them over to one who might be hostile to England, andpledged to make the castle a stronghold that would greatly hinder and barthe advance of an English army upon Paris. Therefore, Sire, I would, notfor my own sake but for the sake of your majesty's self and yoursuccessors, pray you to let me for a while remain quietly at Summerleyuntil the course of events in France is determined.'

  "
The king was pleased to see the force of what I urged. As far as I hadinclinations in the case, they were towards the cause, not of Burgundyhimself, whose murder of Orleans was alike treacherous and indefensible,but of his cause, seeing that Flanders is wholly under his authority, andthat in Artois he is well-nigh paramount at present. On the other hand,Amiens and Ponthieu, which lie but a short distance to the south of me,are strongly Orleanist, and I have therefore every motive for standingaloof. So far the fortune of war has been so changeable that one cannotsay that the chances incline towards one faction more than the other. Eventhe Church has failed to bring about the end of the troubles. TheOrleanists have been formally placed under interdicts, and cursed by book,bell, and candle. The king's commands have been laid upon all to put asidetheir quarrels, but both the ban of the Church and the king's commandshave been ineffectual. I am as anxious as ever to abstain from taking anypart in the trouble, the more so as the alliance between our king andBurgundy has cooled somewhat. But I have received such urgent prayers frommy vassals at Villeroy to come among them, since they are now beingplundered by both parties, that I feel it is time for me to take up myabode there. When the king stayed at Winchester, a month since, I laid thematter before him. He was pleased to say that what I had urged a year agohad turned out to be as I foretold, and that he would give me leave to goover and establish myself at Villeroy, and to hold myself aloof from bothparties until the matter should further ripen. What will come of it Icannot say. The English king seemed to me to be ailing, and I fear that itmay not be long before young Henry comes to the throne. He is a wild youngprince, but has already shown himself in the Northern war to be full ofspirit and courage, and methinks that when he comes to the throne he willnot long observe the peaceful policy of his father, but that we shall seethe royal standard once again spread to the winds of France."

  "But, Sir Eustace," Guy said, when he had concluded, "how do these mattersaffect you? I thought that by the treaty the west part of Artois wasEnglish."

  "Ay, lad, it was so settled; but at that time the strength of France hadbeen broken at Poitiers, and the Black Prince and his army were so fearedthat his terms were willingly accepted in order to secure peace. Much hashappened since then: war has been constantly going on, sometimes hotly,sometimes sluggishly; France has had her own troubles, and as the Englishkings have been more pacific, and England has become weary of bearing theheavy expenses of the war, the treaty has become a dead letter. Gascony,in which province Armagnac is the greatest lord, is altogether lost toEngland, as is the greater part of Guienne. A great proportion of thepeople there were always bitterly opposed to the change, and, as you know,even in the time of the Black Prince himself there were great rebellionsand troubles; since then town after town and castle after castle hasdeclared for France, and no real efforts have ever been made by theEnglish to win them back again. I, who in England am an English baron,and--so long as things go on as at present--a French noble while inFrance, am in a perilous position between my two Suzerains. Were anEnglish army to land, I should join them, for I still hold myself to be avassal of the king of England, as we have been for three generations. Asto the French disputes, I fear that sooner or later I shall have todeclare in favour of one party or the other, for it will be difficult tostand altogether aloof from these conflicts, because all men, at least allmen of condition, are well-nigh forced to take one side or the other. Theplea that I am a baron of England will be of no avail, for both sideswould turn against me and be glad of an excuse for pillaging andconfiscating my estate. At present, then, I must regard myself solely as aFrench noble, for Villeroy has passed into the hands of France, just asfor a while it passed into the hands of England, and if this war goes onwe shall have to take a side."

  "And to which side do your thoughts incline, Sir Eustace, if I may askyou?"

  "I love not either side, Guy, and would fain, if it could be so, that mysword should remain in its sheath. I fear that I shall have to go withBurgundy, for he is all-powerful in Artois; but had I been altogether freeto choose, I should have sided with Orleans. In the first place, it iscertain that the last duke was foully murdered by Burgundy, who therebylaid the foundation for the present troubles. There were jealousiesbefore, as there have always been between the great nobles, but that actforced almost all to take sides. The Dukes of Berri and Brittany, who hadbeen of the party of the late Duke of Burgundy, were driven by this foulact of his son to range themselves with Orleans. Armagnac is very powerfulin the south, Berri's dukedom is in the north, that of Orleans to thenorth-east. Burgundy's strength lies in his own dukedom,--which has everbeen all but independent of France,--in Flanders, in Artois, and in Paris;thus, generally, it is the north and east of France against the south andwest. This is broadly the case, but in a civil war provinces andcountships, neighbours, ay, and families, become split up into factions,as interest, or family ties, or the desire to increase an estate byannexing another next to it, may influence the minds of men.

  "So long as it is but a war between the great dukes and princes of Francewe smaller men may hope to hold aloof, but, as it goes on, and evil deedsare done on both sides, men's passions become heated, the spirit spreadsuntil every man's hand is against his neighbour, and he who joins notagainst one or the other finds both ready to oppress and rob him. I shouldnot have cared to bring out an English following with me had we beenforced to march any distance through France; but as Villeroy is but a fewmiles from the frontier, and of that distance well-nigh half is through myown estates, we can reach the castle almost unnoticed. Once there, thefact that I have strengthened my garrison will keep me from attack, foreither party would be chary in attacking one who can defend himselfstoutly. I was minded to leave your lady and the two younger children inEngland, but in truth she begged so hard to accompany me that I could notsay her nay."

  The Castle of Villeroy was somewhat larger than the one in which Guy hadbeen born and brought up. The plan, however, was very similar: there wasthe central keep, but, whereas at home this was the dwelling-house of thefamily, it was here used as a storehouse, and the apartments of the countand countess were in the range of buildings that formed an inner courtround the keep. In point of luxury the French were in advance of theEnglish, and they had already begun to combine comfort with strength intheir buildings. The apartments struck Guy as being wonderfully spaciousin comparison to those with which he was accustomed. On the ground floorof one side of the square was the banqueting-hall. Its walls weredecorated with arms and armour, the joists that supported the floor abovewere carved, the windows large and spacious, for, looking as they did intothe inner court, there was no occasion for their being mere loopholes.Above the banqueting-hall was a room where Lady Margaret sat with hermaids engaged in working at tapestry; here the priest gave such slightinstruction as was then considered necessary to Agnes and Charles; Henryhad already passed out of his hands.

  Next to this room was the knight's sleeping apartment, or closet as it wasthen called, a room which would now be considered of ridiculouslystraitened dimensions; and close to it were the still smaller closets ofthe children. Beyond were a series of guest-chambers. Another side of thecourt-yard contained the apartments of the castellan, Jean Bouvard, asturdy soldier of long experience, and those of the other officers of thehousehold; the other two sides were occupied by the chapel, the kitchens,and the offices of the servants and retainers. All these rooms wereloopholed on the side looking into the outer court. This was considerablywider and more extensive than the one surrounding the keep. Here were thestables, storehouses for grain and forage, and a building, just erected,for the lodging of the English garrison. All these buildings stood againstthe outer wall, so that they would afford no shelter to an enemy who hadobtained possession of the first defences and was making an attack againstthe second line. The outer wall was twelve feet in thickness, and thirtyfeet above the court; outside the height was considerably greater, asthere was a moat faced with stone fifteen feet deep entirely surroundingit, and containing seven or e
ight feet of water.

  Walls ran half across the outer court, and, from the end of these, lightwooden bridges formed a communication with the wall of the inner court, sothat in the event of the outer wall being stormed or the gates beingcarried by assault, the defenders could retire to the inner defences. Theends of these bridges rested upon irons projecting from the wall, and soarranged that they could be instantly withdrawn when the last of thedefenders had crossed over, when the bridges would at once fall into thecourt-yard below. The inner wall was twelve feet higher than the outerone, and, like it, was provided with a crenellated battlement four feethigh; there were projecting turrets at each corner, and one in the middleof each side.

  The keep rose twenty feet higher than the wall of the inner court. Thelower portions of the cross walls of the outer court were carried on asfar as the inner wall, thereby dividing the space into four; strong gatesgave communication from one to the other. Into these could be driven thecattle of the tenantry, and one of them contained a number of huts inwhich the tenants themselves would be lodged. The court-yard facing theentrance was the largest of the areas into which the space between theouter and inner walls was divided, extending the whole width between theouter walls. Here the military exercises were carried on. Along the wall,at each side of the gate, were a range of stables for the use of thehorses of guests, with rooms over them for the use of their retainers.There was a strong exterior work defending the approach to the drawbridgeon the other side of the moat, and in all respects the castle was wellappointed, and to Guy it seemed almost impossible that it could be carriedby assault, however numerous the foe.