ined._, i., 199.]

[Footnote 17: _Ibid._, 200.]

[Footnote 18: _Waer ic certiffiere dat het dezen nacht niet wel claer
ghestaen heeft._]

[Footnote 19: _Lettres de Louis XI_, iii., 289. The king apparently
never resented the part played by Dammartin when he was dauphin. His
letters to him are very intimate.]

[Footnote 20: _Lettres_, iii., 295. (Toussaint is probably Toustain.)]

[Footnote 21: Kervyn ed., _Oeuvres de Chastellain_, vii., xviii. _See_
poem, _ibid._, 423. The MS. in the Laurentian Library at Florence
bears this line: "Here follows a mystery made because of the said
peace of good intention in the thought that it would be observed by
the parties." Hesdin is, however, a long way out of the route between
Peronne and Namur, where the party was on October 14th. It would
hardly seem possible for journey and visit in so brief a time.]

CHAPTER XII

AN EASY VICTORY

1468

It was in the midst of heavy rains that the journey was made to Namur
and then on to the environs of Liege. Grim was the weather, befitting,
in all probability, Charles's own mood. The king's escort was confined
to very few besides the Scottish guard, but a body of three hundred
troopers was permitted to follow him at a distance, while the faithful
Dammartin across the border kept himself closely informed of every
incident connected with the march that his scouts could gather, and
in readiness to fall upon Burgundian possessions at a word of alarm,
while he restrained his ardour for the moment in obedience to Louis's
anxious command.

By the fourth week of October the Franco-Burgundian party were settled
close to Liege in straggling camps, separated from each other by hills
and uneven ground. Long was the discussion in council meeting as to
the best mode of procedure. Liege was absolutely helpless in the face
of this coalition. Wide breaches made her walls useless. Moats she had
never possessed, for digging was well-nigh impossible on her rocky
site covered by mud and slime from the overflow of the Meuse. On
account of this evident weakness, the king advised dismissing half the
army as needless, advice that was not only rejected immediately but
which excited Charles's doubts of the king's good faith. Over a week
passed and feeble Liege continued obstinate, while each division of
the army manoeuvred to be first in the assault for the sake of the
plunder. But advance was very difficult, for the soldiers were
impeded in thei