About seven o'clock at night, a post arrived in Ghent, bearing the
unwelcome intelligence that Hesden, Montreul, Boulogne, Cambray, and
many other places, had yielded to the arms of France; that Philippe de
Crevec[oe]ur, the oldest and most tried servant of the house of
Burgundy, had gone over to the enemy; and that Arras itself was lost
to Flanders. Such were the tidings that reached Albert Maurice, while
busily debating with Ganay, in a private chamber of the Hotel de
Ville, the means of raising, as rapidly as possible, a large force for
the defence of the country.
The messenger delivered the sealed packets into the hands of the young
President, with notice that they were of the utmost importance; but,
ere he opened them, Albert Maurice dismissed the bearer calmly, and
finished the phrase which his entrance had interrupted. He then broke
the seals, and read; but as he proceeded, notwithstanding his great
command over his own feelings, it was clear, from the contraction of
his brow, and the quivering of his lip, that the tale therein written
was anything but pleasing.
Casting them on the table, after a moment's deep thought, the young
citizen laid his hand sternly upon the papers, and approaching the
lamp towards them, pointed to the fatal tidings from Arras, saying to
his keen companion--"This is sad! this is terrible! We must, if
possible, keep this from the knowledge of the council, till this
pitiful ambassador has had his reply."
Ganay read the contents of the papers over, word by word; then raising
his eyes to the face of his companion, and compressing his thin,
bloodless lips, he replied, calmly but sternly--"Imbercourt must die!"
Albert Maurice started. "No, no! not so," replied he; "I am not one of
those tigers, Ganay, to cross whose path is death. He may oppose me in
the council; he may even thwart me in my plans; and yet not die,
Ganay. But if he betray my country, his deed be upon his head. I will
crush him with my heel, as I would a viper."
"Imbercourt must die!" reiterated Ganay, in the same stern, determined
tone he had used before. "He _will_ betray _your_ country and
_mine_--and he dies. I have marked him well, I see his plans. He, like
the traitors who have gone over before, will sell his country to
France for French gold; and he must die. The only difference between
him and this Philippe de Crevec[oe]ur is, that the one, less cunning
than the other, went over with nothing but his own brute courage to
sell; while this Imbercourt, take my word for it, will carry, as
merchandise to Louis of France, the hand of Mary of Burgundy, and the
coronet of all these states."
"Never!" cried Albert Maurice, stung to the heart, as the other had
intended, and striking his clenched hand upon the table; "never! My
head or his shall whiten in the wind over the battlements of Ghent,
before such a sacrifice be consummated."
The moment he had spoken, however, he felt that he had given Ganay an
advantage; and well understanding that the game between him and his
subtle comrade was one that admitted of no oversight, and that he must
be as much upon his guard with his apparent friend as with a declared
enemy, he hastened to turn the conversation from a topic on which he
could not speak wisely. "We must think farther," he said; "we must
think farther! In the meantime," he added, abruptly, "see you to this
messenger, and ensure that he do not spread his news abroad before the
reception of the worthy ambassador whom Louis has deigned to send. I
have that in yon cabinet which shall overthrow, at a word, all that
his cunning can advance, were he as cunning as the fiend whose name he
takes. At the same time, Ganay, I must trust to your zeal also, my
friend, for the skilful management of our other purpose. This Duke of
Gueldres you must render popular with the citizens, and oppose him
strongly to the Duke of Cleves. Not too far, however. I would equally
divide between them the power that the Duke of Cleves at present holds
entire. Better it were, nevertheless, that the people over-favoured
him of Gueldres, than the other; for he has no hope. Every noble in
the land would rise up against him; and, at the worst, it were but
three passes of this steel," and he touched the hilt of his sword, "to
send him howling to the place he has so long deserved; and to win me
the thanks of all the world, for ridding it of such a monster."
Notwithstanding all his care, Albert Maurice felt, and felt angrily,
that the eager passions of his heart would burst forth and display
more of his real feelings and emotions than he was willing to expose.
Ganay smiled, too, as he listened; and with his smiles there was
always mingled a degree of mockery of the person who excited them,
which rendered their meaning very doubtful.
"May I trust you?" demanded Albert Maurice, sternly.
"You may," answered the druggist. "Doubt me not; for with you, Albert
Maurice, I am more frank a thousand-fold than with any other human
being. We are like two men playing one game of chess, against a whole
host of adversaries; and it is necessary that we should see each
other's moves. Your game I know, Albert; and mine I do not seek to
conceal from you; for it would be both useless and fatiguing. I will,
then, do your bidding in regard to these two men of Cleves and
Gueldres; and so play them off against each other, that they shall
both combine, in their dissensions, to raise you to the height of your
ambition."
He spoke boldly; and Albert Maurice felt that, for once at least, he
spoke truly. He saw, indeed, that although they were in some sort
partners in the game, as Ganay had depicted them, yet they were
playing for different stakes, and might soon find that they had
different interests.
"And when this game is won, Ganay," said he, calmly, after a brief
pause, "this game in which you and I stand as partners, say, are we to
turn round the board, and singly play one short game more, against
each other? Ha! is it not so?"
"No; on my life!" replied Ganay, with a degree of fervour unusual with
him. "No, on my life, young man. I have my passions, like my
neighbours; but I am without ambition. Do _you_, too, believe me
without a touch of feeling? You have shown me kindness in times past:
you once saved the life of one that is now no more; three years ago
you held my head when it throbbed with fever, when we were together on
the shores of the Adriatic: and if you cross not my purpose, if you
oppose not the stronger passion, which guides, and struggles with, and
masters all, you shall find that my gratitude is only second to my
revenge. Even more," he added, resuming his ordinary air of calm
shrewdness: "I can even grateful for those things which I accomplish
by your means, though without your will; and our common efforts for
one great purpose bind us together more firmly than you think. So,
now, farewell! but remember, I tell you Imbercourt is a traitor, and
he must die!"
"If he be a traitor, die most certainly he shall," replied Albert
Maurice; "but in regard to that man, I mistrust my own motives too
much to rely on my own judgment. More, Ganay! still more! I mistrust
your motives, too; and I will not rely on your judgment either. Nay,
protest not! I see your bitter persevering hatred of that man as
clearly as if your bosom were of glass, though I see not the occasion
of it. But it matters not what be the occasion. I doubt myself, and I
doubt you; and others, more impartial than either you or I, shall
judge him, though, God knows, I know no cause of enmity you can have
towards him. So now, farewell."
Ganay's lip curled with a very mingled expression, as Albert Maurice
pronounced the last words, but he made no reply; and, leaving the
young citizen, he proceeded to confer with the messenger who had
lately arrived, and then held a long and secret conference with
Maillotin du Bac.
The post that brought such unwelcome tidings from the frontier supped
well at the Maison de Ville, and, resting his weary limbs upon his
bed, soon found the sweet sleep of fatigue; nor did he ever stir from
the precincts of the building. No one saw him without its gates; no
one held conference with him within, except in the presence of Ganay
himself. Nevertheless, before an hour had passed, the whole news he
had brought were known to Imbercourt, and were by him carried straight
to the princess. How it reached him it were hard to say, for no post
came to the Cours du Prince from that quarter, but still he had
learned it all. Not a word had escaped him, the whole evil tidings
were known, and the consternation was excited which Albert Maurice had
been so desirous of warding off, till the ambassador from France had
been received and dismissed. The views of the young citizen in this
desire were certainly partly patriotic and partly personal; but his
immediate object was to send back the messenger of the deceitful Louis
with such a reply as would render the project of a union between
France and Burgundy hopeless. Every fresh success of the French king
of course strengthened the arguments of those who advocated the
marriage of Mary with the Dauphin; and this torrent of evil tidings
was well calculated to overpower all opposition.
Such had been the light in which Albert Maurice had seen the effect
likely to be produced by the progress of Louis; but in vain, however,
did he take measures to conceal it. Each event, rather magnified than
otherwise, reached the ears of Imbercourt, and by him were that very
night detailed to Mary herself. Tidings had arrived in Ghent, not long
before, that almost the whole of the duchy of Burgundy also had been
overrun by French troops; and this, together with the unresisted
advance of the King of France on the side of Flanders, the total loss
of Picardy, Artois, and the Boulonnois, the desertion of her friends,
the turbulence of her subjects, and the power of her enemies, overcame
at length the unhappy girl's hopes and her firmness. After a long
conference with Imbercourt and her chancellor, as well as with her
cousin, the Lord of Ravestein, and her best of friends, Margaret, her
father's widow, in an evil hour Mary consented to send the two former
on a mission to the base monarch who was usurping her inheritance.
Under their dictation, with a trembling hand, she wrote part of a
letter to Louis XI.; but where she came to give them power to treat of
her alliance with France, her feelings overpowered her, and the tears
gushing from her eyes, obscured her sight.
"Give me the pen, my sweet child," said Margaret of York. "My Lord of
Ravestein and myself, your two nearest relatives and friends, will
each write a part under your direction: so shall the document acquire
additional weight, as showing the wishes of so many persons."
This was accordingly done, and Mary calmly heard a paper read, which
she felt was binding her to misery for life. With a hurried hand she
signed her name, but she could bear no more, and hastened from the
chamber.
"Poor child!" said Margaret of York. "Poor child. But now, my Lord of
Imbercourt, lose not a moment. No communication with this coming
ambassador will answer our purpose. You must see Louis himself; and
treat with himself, and put forth all your wisdom to meet all his
cunning. Hasten to Peronne; fear not to bloody your spurs on the road,
for not a minute that flies, till you are before the King of France,
may not serve to recall this most necessary paper."
While this determination was adopted by the counsellors, Mary was
followed from the room by Alice of Imbercourt; and the moment she had
reached her chamber, that princess cast herself upon the bosom of her
fair attendant, and wept most bitterly. "Fear not, madam," whispered
Alice, "fear not! You shall yet wed him you love."
Mary had never acknowledged her lingering hopes even to Alice of
Imbercourt, perhaps hardly to her own heart. But now the more vehement
passion overcame the milder feeling, and timidity was forgotten in
grief. "Never, Alice! never!" sobbed Mary; "I have just signed away my
last and only chance!"
"Fear not!" again repeated the young lady. "Do you remember, madam,
when you would not read the scheme of your future fate in the castle
of Hannut?"
"Well, very well!" replied Mary, raising her head and drying her eyes;
"what then, my Alice?"
"Do you remember, then, that I stayed behind," continued her
companion, "when you quitted my uncle's observatory? Well; I remained
long enough to give you consolation even now; for I saw there written,
that the coronet of an archduchess was to bind the brow of my fair
mistress."
Mary drew a deep and doubtful sigh; but there was a bright blush rose
also in her cheek, which might seem an augury of hope; and it were
false to say that she did not derive some comfort even from the
predictions of a science, which, since the excitement of her visit to
the castle of Hannut had worn away, she could hardly be said to
believe.
At that period, however, each day of the life of Mary of Burgundy was
a day of renewed care and anxiety; and the proceedings of the next
morning opened with the tedious and painful ceremony of receiving the
ambassador from the French monarch.
At the hour appointed it was announced that the Count de Meulan
waited, and Mary took her seat in state, with the Bishop of Liege on
one hand and the Duke of Cleves on the other, while Albert Maurice and
various members of the council stood round. It had struck the young
citizen, however, as soon as he entered the hall of audience, that
neither Imbercourt nor Hugonet, the two chief supporters of what was
called the French party, were present; and it appeared to him not a
little extraordinary that they should be absent, if in the town, when
such an opportunity for showing their respect to the King of France
occurred, as the public reception of his envoy. During the time that
elapsed between his own arrival and the introduction of the
ambassador, he asked frequently, but in vain, for the absent
counsellors, and on every movement near the door looked for their
appearance, supposing that the business of the day could not or would
not proceed without their presence. He was not a little surprised,
however, when the order for admitting the Count de Meulan was at
length given in their absence.
The doors were soon thrown open; and, dressed in the excess of
splendour, but with a certain crouching and stealthy pace, habitual to
the barber of the most cunning king in Europe, Olivier le Dain entered
the hall, and approached the chair of the princess. After the ceremony
of his introduction, which he went through, not without grace, but
without dignity, the ambassador was commanded to deliver his letters,
which he accordingly did. These were found to be in full and correct
form, and he was then directed to state the purport of his embassy,
and what he was charged to communicate to the Princess of Burgundy,
from her cousin the King of France.
Here, however, the envoy hesitated; and, after a moment's thought,
replied in a low, soft voice, that he was directed by his master,
Louis, the most Christian king, to explain his views and wishes to his
beloved cousin and god-daughter, the Princess Mary, in private, and to
her alone. He therefore, he said, craved a private audience, in which
his communication should be more full and complete.
The Bishop of Liege--whose territories lay too close to the French
frontier, and whose interests were too nearly connected with those of
France to suffer him to feel any great personal interest in the
distinct rights of the House of Burgundy--had hitherto been the person
who spoke on the part of the princess. He of course had evinced every
sort of respect for the ambassador of the French King; but at this
point the Duke of Cleves broke in; and with a haughty and contemptuous
tone, informed the Count de Meulan, that what he demanded was not
consistent with the customs of the court of Burgundy. He must,
therefore, he said, declare openly his errand to the princess
surrounded by her council, for no other course of proceeding could be
permitted.
Again the ambassador hesitated: uttering several sentences, from
which, though loaded with fine and sounding words, and gilded with a
show of argument, all that could be gathered was, that the open
communication required by the council was contrary to his monarch's
commands. He then seemed about to retire; but at that moment Albert
Maurice advanced a little before the rest, and craved leave to explain
the object and views of the ambassador, which that functionary seemed
to have so much difficulty in doing for himself. The assembled court,
and the ambassador likewise, gazed on him with some surprise; but the
young citizen proceeded.
"In the first place," he said, "your Grace will be glad to hear, who
is the noble envoy whom that mighty monarch, Louis, King of France,
thinks fit to send to the court of Burgundy: to the daughter of that
great prince who overthrew him in the field by valour and skill, and
who foiled him in the cabinet by decision and boldness. Allow me, in
the man who calls himself Count de Meulan, to introduce to your notice
Olivier le Dain, or by some called Le Mechant, barber to the most
Christian King, born at Thielt, and serving as a barber's boy at
Saarvelt, near this city."
A roar of laughter burst from the nobles of Burgundy; and Albert
Maurice proceeded, waving his hand to the doorkeepers to prevent the
barber from making his exit too rapidly. "Do not let the worthy
ambassador depart till he has heard me explain the object of his
coming. I hold here in my hand, by the favour of some unknown friend
who sent these papers to me, a copy of the private instructions of the
King of France to the _Barber Ambassador_, which direct him, strictly,
to keep the princess and the court of Burgundy engaged in long and
tedious negotiations, while he strives in private to persuade the
people of Ghent to invite the King of France to enter their territory.
He is further ordered to spare no means, neither money nor promises,
to make the good men of this city declare for the King of France, and
throw off the authority of their lawful sovereign. To this, by your
Grace's permission, I, as the only individual of the burgher class in
this presence, will take upon me to reply, that Louis, King of France,
mistakes entirely the character and disposition of the men of Ghent;
for, though they may be anxious to preserve their own liberties and
privileges, they are no less anxious to preserve the legitimate
authority of their sovereign; and, though they are never disposed to
submit to tyranny from their own princes, they are no less determined
to resist all foreign domination. Let him learn that he can neither
buy us with his gold, nor fool us with his promises; and that his
intrigues and offers will be equally in vain with the men of Ghent. It
is for you, my lords," he continued, turning to the members of the
council present, "as older men, and more experienced in the ways of
courts than myself, it is for you to judge what course ought to be
pursued towards a man who comes as ambassador to a sovereign prince,
and, at the same time, undertakes to seduce the subjects of that
prince from their allegiance; who approaches the presence of an
oppressed princess, from the man who is robbing her of her territories
and massacring her subjects, affecting in words and in style to
negotiate with her as the messenger of a friend and a relation, while
his real errand is to excite treason amongst her people, and to bribe
her citizens to revolt. It is for you, my lords, I say, to judge what
is to be done with the caitiff who undertakes such a commission for
such a man!"
"Nail his ears to the door-post!" cried the Lord of Vere, an impetuous
noble of North Zealand.
"Throw him into the river!" cried the Duke of Cleves; "such treatment
does he well deserve."
Various other pleasant modes of disposing of the person of the barber
ambassador were suggested by different members of the council,
probably without any intention of carrying them into effect. They were
not, however, without producing some impression, and that of no very
agreeable nature, upon the mind of Olivier le Dain himself. That
worthy personage had listened to the speech of Albert Maurice in
downcast silence. No flush betrayed his agitation or shame, though his
lip quivered a little, and at one time he took two or three steps
towards the door. But when he heard the many unceremonious methods of
treatment proposed, he gradually crept back till he was within a step
of the entrance of the chamber. His face was still turned towards the
council; and he still seemed listening attentively to the somewhat
bitter strictures which were passing upon his own conduct; but he
showed no inclination to retreat farther than was absolutely necessary
to keep himself out of the reach of violent hands, so that the
doorkeepers were off their guard. As the Duke of Cleves spoke, the
barber paused and listened, gave a furtive glance over his shoulder;
and then, without any effort towards taking leave, he darted out of
the presence at once, reached the court-yard, mounted his horse, and
galloped away to the inn where he had lodged.
Before he arrived at that building, however, he began to feel that his
apprehensions of personal violence had probably been a little too
hasty; and a loud laugh, which he remembered to have heard, as he
quitted the audience-hall, confirmed him in that opinion. The calm
reflection of a few hours, during which he seemed totally forgotten by
the whole town, refreshed his courage and re-animated his hopes; and,
therefore, not to abandon his purpose without another effort, he
ventured to ride out in the evening; but the moment that he presented
himself in the streets, he was greeted with so much mockery and
laughter, that he soon found the attempt would be vain. A full account
of his birth and situation had been industriously circulated amongst
the people during the day; and as nothing excites the hatred and
contempt of the populace more than to see a person sprung from amongst
themselves, affecting the airs and splendour of a class above them,
they were all prepared to shower upon his head every sort of ridicule
and abuse. No sooner did he appear than this determination to insult
and annoy him in every different way, began to manifest itself among
the people. One held a pewter basin before his horse's head; another
lifted up his rugged chin, and begged that his highness would shave
him, just to keep his hand in; and a third exclaimed, that he must not
think to lead the people of Ghent by the nose, though he might often
have taken the King of France by that organ.
Just while he was turning away from these unpleasant salutations, in
order to return as fast as possible to his hotel, some shouts met his
ear, which seemed rapidly coming nearer, and in a moment after he
perceived half a dozen horsemen cantering easily down the street, with
a number of men and boys running by the sides of the horses, shouting
loudly, "Long live the Duke of Gueldres! long live the noble Duke of
Gueldres!" The horseman at their head was a powerful handsome man, of
about fifty, with a coarse and bold expression of countenance, but
still possessing that easy air of dignity and command, which is a part
of the education of princes. Some one, as the cavalcade approached,
recognising the person of the French ambassador by his splendid dress
and gaudy train, shouted out the name and various opposite occupations
of Master Olivier le Dain; and the Duke of Gueldres, dashing on, drove
his horse rudely against that of the unfortunate barber, which reared
with the stroke, and almost plunged him into the canal, near which
they were riding.
"Ha, ha! Master Barber," shouted the Duke, in the rough and brutal
tone which he usually employed, when he had no purpose to answer which
might require softer speech; "thou canst never shave without water,
man, but there is plenty in the canal."
The populace roared their applause; and while Olivier le Dain, keeping
his seat with difficulty, made the best of his way back to his inn,
and thence for ever out of the gates of Ghent, the Duke of Gueldres
rode on, nor stopped till he sprang from his horse at the house of
Albert Maurice.
Representatives from all the different cities of that part of Belgium
which was then under the dominion of Burgundy, had arrived in Ghent
the day before; and at the moment when the Duke of Gueldres
approached, the young President was in the act of despatching a
deputation to Louis XI. then encamped at Arras. Albert Maurice, be it
remarked, went not himself; but at the head of the deputation, on the
part of Ghent, was the druggist Ganay.
The Duke of Gueldres found the street before the young citizen's
house crowded with horses and horse boys; and the different chambers
of the house itself filled with the attendants of the deputies and
the officers of the city--messengers, visitors, soldiers, and
spectators--displayed a spectacle more like the palace of a sovereign
prince than the house of a simple merchant in a Flemish town.
"By my faith," the Duke muttered, as he walked on amidst robes, and
embroidery, and gold chains, and furred gowns, "times have strangely
changed with the good city of Ghent, since that cursed tyrant shut me
up in his old stone rat-trap. Which is Albert Maurice?" he then
demanded of a merchant who was passing out; "which is the grand
bailli--which is the president of the municipal council?"
"Yonder he stands at the head of the table," replied the merchant,
"speaking with the deputies of Utrecht and Bruges."
At that moment the eye of the young citizen fell upon the Duke of
Gueldres; and--though he was unannounced, and Albert Maurice had never
beheld him before--either from having heard his personal appearance
described, or from having seen some picture of him, the burgher at
once recognised the prince, and advanced a step or two to meet him.
The Duke of Gueldres was surprised to behold so young a man chosen
from amongst the jealous and factious citizens of Ghent, to wield the
chief authority of the city, to fill two of the most important
offices, and to influence so strongly the councils of all Flanders;
but he was still more surprised to find that high and dignified tone
in the merchant, which so well became his station. He had been
prepared to see the president in possession of vast power, but he now
perceived that his power was greatly derived from his superiority to
his class, and he at once saw the necessity of suiting his demeanour,
for the time at least, to the man. With a degree of suavity which no
one knew better how to assume, when it answered his purpose, than
Adolphus, Duke of Gueldres, that base and brutal prince, now, with his
manner softened down to an appearance of mere generous frankness,
thanked the young citizen for his liberation, and told him that he had
good reason to know that the happy event was solely owing to his
intervention.
Albert Maurice at once gracefully complimented the duke on his
enlargement, and disclaimed all title to gratitude for an act which,
he said, emanated from the princess herself. He had, he acknowledged,
strongly advised her to the course she had pursued, when she had
condescended to consult him upon the subject; but he assured the duke
that she had first spoken of her kinsman's liberation, before he had
ventured to propose such a proceeding.
"Well, well," replied the duke, "I knew not that my fair cousin was so
generous, but I will kiss her pretty cheek in token of my thanks,
which, perhaps, she will think no unpleasant way of showing one's
gratitude."
The blood rushed up to the temples of the young citizen; but he made
no reply, and merely bowed low. He then begged the Duke to excuse him
for a few moments, while he concluded the business in which he had
been engaged. The prince replied that he would detain him no longer;
and Albert Maurice, with cold and formal courtesy, suffered him to
depart--from that moment either a secret or an avowed enemy. As soon
as he was gone, the young citizen took leave of the deputies, besought
them to make all speed to meet the king, and directed them to beg
him--instead of hastening on to plunge the two nations into long and
sanguinary wars--to halt his armies, till such time as the states
general could devise and propose to his majesty some fair means of
general pacification.
He then gave into the hands of Ganay a letter, fully authorizing the
deputation to treat, in the name of the princess, which instrument had
been unwillingly wrung from Mary during the morning, notwithstanding
the secret powers which she had so lately given to Imbercourt and
Hugonet. To this Albert Maurice added a private injunction, to trace
and discover all the movements of the two ministers, whose absence
from the council of that day he had remarked: and there was a sort of
fierce and flashing eagerness in the eye of the young citizen, as he
spoke this in a low whisper, which the druggist marked with pleasure
and expectation.[6]
The results of this deputation to the crafty monarch of France are so
well known, that they need but short recapitulation. Louis received
the members of the Belgian states with all civility, and treated them
individually with distinction; as that wily monarch well knew, that
through the intervention of such men alone he could hope to win that
extensive territory, which he was striving to add to France. At the
same time, he positively refused to treat with them in their official
capacity, and affected, at first, a great degree of mystery in regard
to his reasons for so doing, assigning a thousand vague and
unsatisfactory motives, which he well knew would not be believed for a
moment, but which he was aware would induce the deputies--encouraged
by his homely and good-humoured manner--to press so strongly for a
further explanation, as to afford him some excuse for the base
treachery he meditated against their sovereign.
The deputies fell into the trap he laid; made use of every argument to
induce him to negotiate with them upon the powers they had received
from their several cities; and finally urged, that if he would not
acknowledge them as the representatives of the towns of Flanders,
Hainault, and Brabant, he must at least consent to receive them as
ambassadors from the young Duchess of Burgundy, whose letters of
authority they then tendered.
Still, however, Louis refused; and, at length, as if worn out by
importunity, he said, "My good friends of Ghent and the other towns of
Flanders, you must very well know, from my whole conduct towards you,
that I would rather treat with you than with any other persons.
I am a plain man, and love to deal with plain citizens; but you
are entirely mistaken in supposing that you possess the confidence
of my dear god-child Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, or that you are really
authorized to treat for her. It is not impossible," he added, with a
self-satisfied and yet mysterious air, "it is not at all impossible,
that, were I so disposed, I might show you a letter, written partly in
her own hand, partly in that of the Duchess Dowager, and partly in
that of the good Lord of Ravestein, directing me to place confidence
in no persons but my excellent good friends, and faithful servants,
the Lord of Imbercourt, and William de Hugonet, Chancellor of
Burgundy, who were both with me at Peronne for many hours some nights
ago, and are by this time back again in Ghent."
The deputies, confounded and surprised, expressed, in the first heat
of their astonishment, a very uncourtly doubt of the truth of the
king's statement; and Louis, affecting to consider his honour
impugned, committed one of the basest acts of the many that stain his
memory, and produced the private letter of the Princess Mary to the
eyes of her turbulent and headstrong subjects. Furious with
indignation and disappointment, the deputies retired from the presence
of the king, without having concluded anything, and journeyed on with
all speed towards Ghent, neglecting the great and vital business of
the moment, in order to plunge into fresh scenes of anarchy and
confusion.
Louis saw them depart with scorn and triumph; and, as proud of his
successful villany as ever conqueror was of a final victory, he
marched on to new successes in every direction, satisfied that, in the
discontented spirit of the people of Ghent, he had a faithful ally
that not even self-interest could sever from him.