e between his daughter and
the Duke of Orleans; and, although he was sensible to the indignity of
serving with his noblest peers under the banners of his own vassal, and
against the people whose cause he had abetted, he did not allow these
circumstances to embarrass him in the meantime, trusting that a future
day would bring him amends.

"For chance," said he to his trusty Oliver, "may indeed gain one hit,
but it is patience and wisdom which win the game at last."

With such sentiments, upon a beautiful day in the latter end of harvest,
the King mounted his horse; and, indifferent that he was looked upon
rather as a part of the pageant of a victor, than in the light of an
independent Sovereign surrounded by his guards and his chivalry, King
Louis sallied from under the Gothic gateway of Peronne, to join the
Burgundian army, which commenced at the same time its march against
Liege.

Most of the ladies of distinction who were in the place attended,
dressed in their best array, upon the battlements and defences of the
gate, to see the gallant show of the warriors setting forth on the
expedition. Thither had the Countess Crevecoeur brought the Countess
Isabelle. The latter attended very reluctantly, but the peremptory order
of Charles had been, that she who was to bestow the palm in the tourney
should be visible to the knights who were about to enter the lists.

As they thronged out from under the arch, many a pennon and shield
was to be seen, graced with fresh devices, expressive of the bearer's
devoted resolution to become a competitor for a prize so fair. Here a
charger was painted starting for the goal--there an arrow aimed at
a mark--one knight bore a bleeding heart, indicative of his
passion--another a skull and a coronet of laurels, showing his
determination to win or die. Many others there were; and some so
cunningly intricate and obscure, that they might have defied the most
ingenious interpreter. Each knight, too, it may be presumed, put his
courser to his mettle, and assumed his most gallant seat in the saddle,
as he passed for a moment under the view of the fair bevy of dames and
damsels, who encouraged their valour by their smiles, and the waving of
kerchiefs and of veils. The Archer Guard, selected almost at will from
the flower of the Scottish nation, drew general applause, from the
gallantry and splendour of their appearance.

And there was one among these strangers who ventured on a demonstration
of a