r to go back, Peter des Preaux succeeded
in getting the Queen out of Chinon and bringing her to her husband at
Le Mans; thence they managed to make their way back in safety to
Falaise.

This incident may have suggested to John that it was time to take some
decisive step toward getting rid of Arthur's claims. According to one
English chronicler, some of the King's counsellors had already been
urging this matter upon him for some time past. They pointed out that
so long as Arthur lived, and was neither physically nor legally
incapacitated for ruling, the Bretons would never be quiet, and no
lasting peace with France would be possible. They therefore suggested
to the King a horrible scheme for rendering Arthur incapable of being
any longer a source of danger. The increasing boldness of the Bretons
at last provoked John into consenting to this project, and he
despatched three of his servants to Falaise to put out the eyes of the
captive. Two of these men chose to leave the King's service rather
than obey him; the third went to Falaise as he was bidden, but found
it impossible to fulfil his errand. Arthur's struggles were backed by
the very soldiers who guarded him, and the fear of a mutiny drove
their commander, Hubert de Burgh, to prevent the execution of an order
which he felt that the King would soon have cause to regret. He gave
out, however, that the order had been fulfilled, and that Arthur had
died in consequence.

The effect of this announcement proved at once the wisdom of Hubert
and the folly of those to whose counsel John had yielded. The fury of
the Bretons became boundless; they vowed never to leave a moment's
peace to the tyrant who had committed such a ghastly crime upon their
Duke, his own nephew, and Hubert soon found it necessary, for John's
own sake, to confess his fraud and demonstrate to friends and foes
alike that Arthur was still alive and uninjured. John himself now
attempted to deal with Arthur in another way. Being at Falaise at the
end of January, 1203, he caused his nephew to be brought before him,
and "addressed him with fair words, promising him great honors if he
would forsake the King of France and cleave faithfully to his uncle
and rightful lord." Arthur, however, rejected these overtures with
scorn, vowing that there should be no peace unless the whole Angevin
dominions, including England, were surrendered to him as Richard's
lawful heir. John retorted by transferring his prisoner from Fa