tofore been trumpeted throughout all Europe, more than any other monarch's ever were, I hold it is a bounden duty to yourself, and a fit reverence to the high renown you have, to succour Jeanne! Alack! poor lady; sooth, my good lord, my heart doth bleed for her! and when I heard the Lord de Clisson, that good knight, report, how she did take the tidings of her lord's captivity, and weep; then, suddenly bestir herself, and clothe her gentle limbs in steel, and lead her child and hold him up before the yeomanry and plead his cause-when I did hear all this, my Lord, I could have wept, and in myself did say, that, had I been lord of this far-stretching land and of its gallant troops, I would have led them all unto her service-All!"

There was scarcely a word uttered by the Countess of Salisbury which Edward did not feel as a reproach, and that too the more painful to be endured, because deserved.

At the instigation of a low, vulgar demagogue, a brewer of Gand, named d'Artvelte, he had assumed the title of King of France, had quartered her arms on his escutcheon,-had made various

magnificent and pompous bravados of his designs against Philip, and threatened that he would soon enter France, and lay it waste, unless he ceded him the crown.-He had promised William of Hainault, his brother-in-law, to come over speedily, and commence hostilities, and had accepted from Jean de Montfort that oath of homage which, by the feudal law, entitles a vassal to his Lord's protection and support; and yet, instead of executing any of these high-sounding threats, or fulfilling his promises, he still lay loitering away his time at Windsor, whilst Philip, laughing at his conduct, was overrunning Britany, garrisoning its fortresses with troops, and thus, by diminishing de Montfort's power, daily rendering it more and more difficult for Edward to contest the throne.

Edward felt that it was not as a braggart and breaker of covenants, that the chivalrous and warlike King of England, hitherto renowned for strict adherence to promises, should be viewed by his Court and vassals; and the publicity of the reproach would, of itself, have been enough to rouse him to exertion ;—as in truth it did,—

though he at the same time attempted to extract from the adventure as much advantage to his amour as could be drawn from it. So, leaning back, and inclining his cheek towards the Countess of Salisbury, whilst speaking rapidly, but in a low whisper, he replied :

:

"Ha! say you so, fair lady,-say you so!Take you this great interest in the Countess Jeanne? Why, then, till now, have you withheld such longings from your faithful Knight, happy but when he doth your bidding?—You shall be you shall be!-you are obeyed. Ho, cousin Robert!" he continued, turning hastily from the Countess, and rising-"Give me the salver, that I taste of it and swear!"

To suppose that the Lady Salisbury felt no degree of pride or pleasure on thus finding she had enthralled the affections of so renowned a Prince, to such a point, as to make him dispose of England's forces at her mere beck and bidding, would be to suppose her not only devoid of female vanity, but to be either above or below the standard of human nature; and she was neither. Yet however gratified she might have

been at this ready acquiescence to her will, she was resolved never to encourage any pretensions injurious to a husband whom she loved devotedly. -and so, perceiving the error she had been guilty of, or rather the malicious turn which the enamoured monarch put upon her words, she attempted to hold him back, in order to retract them, or at least explain their meaning.

But Edward was too quick for this, and rose without paying any regard to what she did; when going towards the Count of Artois, he beckoned to all present to come and hear him take his vows.

When Edward reached the spot where Robert, with the charger in his hands, stood waiting to see the event of his contrivance, he ordered the cover to be lifted up, and commanding the attention of all present, he cut off and swallowed a morsel of the heron, and then, looking round him, uttered in a firm but slow and solemn tone of voice, the following obligatory declaration.

"That which I have too long deferred doing, I now promise speedily to perform. Two months shall not have passed, ere, marshalling the En

glish forces in due form of war, I, at their head, will lead them into Hainault; and from Hainault marching to St. Denis, will defy King Philip in his capital. This do I vow and promise, in the name of the God of Paradise, and of that fair and holy Mother, Queen of Heaven, upon whose breast his infant cheek reposed!"

The King having thus irrevocably bound himself to an immediate commencement of hostilities, and ceased speaking, the music again struck up, and Robert carrying on the charger, presented it in succession to the Earls of Derby, Suffolk, and Salisbury, who each in turn bound himself to promote the success of the expedition to the utmost extent of his power. The plateau was next presented to Sir Walter Manny.

"In the name of the most Holy Trinity," he said, "the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and of the blessed Virgin, and of her whom-next to the blessed Virgin-I do most adore. Of her, whom, solely and entirely, I have loved on earth -whom, neither time nor absence, hath faded from my memory;-and who can only die in it, when I myself shall die.-I swear, that when