o keep this agreement.

But now some years had passed away, and circumstances had changed so
much that Louis did not wish to keep this promise. Edward's great
ally, the Duke of Burgundy, was dead. His daughter Mary, who became
the Duchess Mary on the death of her father, and who, so greatly to
Clarence's disappointment, had married Maximilian, had succeeded to
the estates and possessions of her father. These possessions the King
of France desired very much to join to his dominions, as they lay
contiguous to them, and the fear of Edward, which had prompted him to
make the marriage contract with him in the first instance, had now
passed away, on account of Edward's having become so much weakened by
his vices and his effeminacy. He now, therefore, became desirous of
allying his family to that of Burgundy rather than that of England.

The Duchess Mary had three children, all very young. The oldest,
Philip, was only about three years old.

Now it happened that just at this time, while the Duchess Mary was out
with a small party, hawking, near the city of Bruges, as they were
flying the hawks at some herons, the company galloping on over the
fields in order to keep up with the birds, the duchess's horse, in
taking a leap, burst the girths of the saddle, and the duchess was
thrown off against the trunk of a tree. She was immediately taken up
and borne into a house, but she was so much injured that she almost
immediately died.

Of course, her titles and estates would now descend to her children.
The second of the children was a girl. Her name was Margaret. She was
about two years old. Louis immediately resolved to give up the match
between the dauphin and Edward's daughter Mary, and contract another
alliance for him with this little Margaret. He met with considerable
difficulty and delay in bringing this about, but he succeeded at last.
While the negotiations were pending, Edward, who suspected what was
going on, was assured that nothing of the kind was intended, and
various false tales and pretenses were advanced by Louis to quiet his
mind.

At length, when all was settled, the new plan was openly proclaimed,
and great celebrations and parades were held in Paris in honor of the
event. Edward was overwhelmed with vexation and rage when he received
the tidings. He was, however, completely helpless. He lay tossing
restlessly on his sick-bed, cursing, on the one hand, Louis's
faithlessness and treachery, and, on the other, h