lace. They were
confined first in Nottingham Castle, and in 1377 were removed to
Devizes, where Guyon died about Christmas 1384. In 1362 Edward and
Charles agreed on a treaty, which Jeanne refused to ratify, alleging
that she would lose her life, or two if she had them, rather than
relinquish her claims to young Montfort. Two years later Charles was
killed at the battle of Auray, and Jeanne thereon accepted a settlement
which made Montfort Duke of Bretagne, reserving to herself the county of
Penthievre, the city of Limoges, and a sum of ten thousand _livres
Tournois_.

The only authority hitherto discovered giving any hint of the history of
Marguerite after this date, is a contemporary romance, _Le Roman de la
Comtesse de Montfort_, which states that she retired to the Castle of
Lucinio, near Vannes, and passed the rest of her life in tranquillity.
Even Mrs Everett Green, in her _Lives of the Princesses of England_,
accepted this as a satisfactory conclusion. It was, indeed, the only
one known. But two entries on the public records of England entirely
dissipate this comfortable illusion. On 26th September 1369, the Patent
Roll states that "we allowed 105 pounds per annum to John Delves for the
keeping of the noble lady, the Duchess of Bretagne; and we now grant to
Isabel his widow, for so long a time as the said Duchess shall be in her
keeping, the custody of the manor of Walton-on-Trent, value 22 pounds,"
and 52 pounds from other lands. (Patent Roll, 43 Edward the Third, Part
2.) The allowance originally made had evidently been increased. The
hapless prisoner, however, was not left long in the custody of Isabel
Delves. She was transferred to that of Sir Godfrey Foljambe, whose
wife, Avena Ireland, was daughter of Avena de Holand, aunt of Joan
Duchess of Bretagne, the second wife of young Montfort. Lastly, a Post
Mortem Inquisition, taken in 1374, announces that "Margaret Duchess of
Bretagne died at Haselwood, in the county of Derby, on the 18th of
March, 48 Edward the Third, being sometime in the custody of Godfrey
Foljambe." (Inquisitions of Exchequer, 47-8 Edward the Third, county
Derbyshire).

It is therefore placed beyond question that the Countess of Montfort
died a prisoner in England, at a date when her son had been for ten
years an independent sovereign, and though on friendly terms with Edward
the Third, was no longer a suppliant for his favour. Can it have
occurred without his knowledge and san