g Richard was in Ireland, his cousin, Henry of Lancaster,
afterward Henry IV., took possession of the royal treasury, and upon
the return of Richard from his unfortunate campaign, marched at the
head of an army and made a prisoner of him, lodging him in that grim
Tower of London from which so few prisoners ever issued alive.

Meantime, the poor little queen was hurried from one town to another,
her French attendants were taken from her, and the members of her new
household were forbidden ever to speak to her of the husband she
loved so dearly. Finally, it was rumored that Richard had escaped.
Instantly, this extraordinary little girl of eleven issued a
proclamation saying that she did not recognize Henry IV. (for he was
now crowned King of England) as sovereign; and she set out with an
army to meet her husband. The poor child was bitterly disappointed
upon learning that the rumor was false, and her husband was still a
prisoner, and before long she also was again a prisoner of Henry IV.,
this time closely guarded.

In a few months Richard was murdered in prison by order of King Henry,
and his queen's childish figure was shrouded in the heavy crape of her
widow's dress. Her superb jewelry was taken from her and divided
among the children of Henry IV., and she was placed in still closer
captivity. Her father, the King of France, sent to demand that she
should return to him, but for a long time King Henry refused
his consent. Meantime, she received a second offer of marriage
from--strange to say--the son of the man who had killed her husband
and made her a prisoner, but a handsome, dashing young prince, Harry
of Monmouth, often called "Madcap Hal." Perhaps you have read, or your
parents have read to you, extracts from Shakspeare's "Henry IV.," so
that you know of the wild exploits of the Prince of Wales with his
friends, in turning highwayman and stealing purses from travelers,
often saying,

"Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack?"

and finding himself in prison sometimes as a result of such
amusements? Isabella was a child of decided character, and truly
devoted to the memory of her husband, and much as she had enjoyed
her rank she refused to continue it by marrying handsome Madcap Hal,
although he offered himself to her several times, and even as she was
embarking for France.

Poor little Isabella, who had left France so brilliantly, returned a
sad child-widow, and all that remained to her of her former spl