eep him from
talking privately with anybody; he commanded me likewise to give him a
piece of crimson velvet of thirty ells, which I did. After which the king
addressed himself to the rest of the company, giving them an account of the
letters of defiance; and, having called seven or eight of them apart, he
ordered the letters to be read aloud, showing himself very cheerful and
valiant, without the least sign of fear in the world; for indeed he was
much revived by what he had learned from the herald."

When the duke of Burgundy first came to wait on the king of England at
Calais, he was attended only by a small retinue,[48] having dismissed his
army into the countries of Barrois and Lorraine to plunder and refresh
themselves (the duke of Lorraine having declared himself his enemy). The
English had expected him to have joined them at their landing with at least
2500 men at arms, well provided, and a considerable body of horse and foot;
and that he should have opened the campaign in France three months before
their descent, when they might have found king Louis already harassed with
the war and in great distress.

King Edward (by the stages already described from Molinet,) marched to
Peronne, a town belonging to the duke of Burgundy. The English, however,
except in small companies, were not received within its gates, but they
formed their encampment in the adjacent fields.[49] At this place a
messenger arrived from the constable of France, bringing letters both for
the duke and the king.[50] To the former he made strong professions of
friendship and service, declaring that he would assist him and his allies,
and particularly the king of England, against all persons and princes
whatever. In his letter to king Edward he referred his good-meaning to the
duke of Burgundy's testimony. The duke communicated also to the king the
contents of his own letter from the constable, somewhat exaggerating them,
and assuring Edward that the constable would receive him into the town of
St. Quentin, and all the other towns under his control; and king Edward
really believed it, because he had married the constable's niece, and he
thought him so terribly afraid of the king of France, that he would not
venture to break his promise to the duke and himself. Nor was the duke of
Burgundy less credulous than king Edward. {xxx} But neither the
perplexities of the constable, nor his dread of the king of France, had as
yet carried him so far; his design