ajazet had surpassed them
in cool ferocity. After the first explosion of the father's and the
people's grief, the ransom of the prisoners became the topic. It was a
large sum, and rather difficult to raise; and, whilst it was being sought
for, James de Helly returned to report as much to Bajazet, and to place
himself once more in his power. "Thou art welcome," said the sultan;
"thou hast loyally kept thy word; I give thee thy liberty; thou canst go
whither thou wiliest."

Terms of ransom were concluded; and the sum total was paid through the
hands of Bartholomew Pellegrini, a Genoese trader. Before the Count of
Nevers and his comrades set out, Bajazet sent for them. "John," said he
to the count through an interpreter, "I know that thou art a great lord
in thy country, and the son of a great lord. Thou art young. It may be
that thou art abashed and grieved at what hath befallen thee in thy first
essay of knighthood, and that, to retrieve thine honor, thou wilt collect
a powerful army against me. I might, ere I release thee, bind thee by
oath not to take arms against me, neither thyself nor thy people. But
no; I will not exact this oath either from them or from thee. When thou
hast returned yonder, take up arms if it please thee, and come and attack
me. Thou wilt find me ever ready to receive thee in the open field, thee
and thy men-at-arms. And what I say to thee, I say for the sake of all
the Christians thou mayest purpose to bring. I fear them not; I was born
to fight them, and to conquer the world." Everywhere and at all times
human pride, with its blind arrogance, is the same. Bajazet saw no
glimpse of that future when his empire would be decaying, and held
together only by the interested protection of Christian powers. After
paying dearly for their errors and their disasters, Count John of Nevers
and his comrades in captivity re-entered France in February, 1398, and
their expedition to Hungary was but one of the last vain ventures of
chivalry in the great struggle that commenced in the seventh century
between Islamry and Christendom.

While this tragic incident was taking place in Eastern Europe, the court
of the mad king was falling a victim to rivalries, intrigues, and
scandals which, towards the close of this reign, were to be the curse and
the shame of France. There had grown up between Queen Isabel of Bavaria
and Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of the king, an intimacy which,
throughout the ci