he king of France
would not consent to any other truce with the {xlvii} duke than what was
already made.[69] He also pressed Louis not to deliver St. Quentin into the
duke's hands; and, as further encouragement, Edward offered to repass the
seas in the following spring with a powerful army to assist him, provided
his majesty would continue in war against the duke of Burgundy, and
compensate him for the prejudice he should sustain in his duties upon wool
at Calais, which would be worth little or nothing in war time, though at
other times they were valued at 50,000 crowns. He proposed likewise that
the king of France should pay one-half of his army, and he would pay the
other himself. Louis returned Edward abundance of thanks, and made sir
Thomas a present of plate: but as to the continuation of the war, he begged
to be excused, for the truce with Burgundy was already concluded, and upon
the same terms as those which had been already agreed to between them; only
the duke of Burgundy had pressed urgently to have a separate truce for
himself; which circumstance Louis excused as well as he could, in order to
satisfy the English ambassador, who with this answer returned home,
accompanied by the hostages. "The king (adds Commines) felt extremely
surprised at king Edward's offers, which were delivered before me only, and
he conceived it would be very dangerous to bring the king of England into
France again, for between those two nations, when brought into contact, any
trifling accident might raise some new quarrel, and the English might
easily make friends again with the duke of Burgundy." These considerations
greatly forwarded the conclusion of the king of France's treaty with the
Burgundians.

In fact, the duke of Burgundy at last overreached his brother-in-law king
Edward, for he concluded a truce with France for nine years, whilst that of
England with France was for seven years only. The duke's ambassadors
requested king Louis that this truce might not be proclaimed immediately by
sound of trumpet, as the usual custom was, for they were anxious to save
the duke's oath to king Edward (when he swore in his passion that he would
not accept of the benefit of the truce until the king had been in England
three months), lest Edward should think their master had spoken otherwise
than he designed.

As for Edward himself, whatever selfish satisfaction he may have derived
from the result of the campaign,--such as Commines has already