The young Count of Charolois stood in the court-yard of the inn, about nine o'clock on the morning that followed his arrival in Lille, with a letter in his hand, and a countenance not altogether well pleased. There was a gentleman beside him, somewhat advanced in years, bearing knightly spurs upon his heels, and armed at all points but the head, the grey hair of which was partly covered with a small velvet cap, and to him the Prince spoke eagerly; while the various persons who had attended him from Ghent stood at a respectful distance, waiting his commands as to their future proceedings. Richard of Woodville had not remarked the old knight with the band before; and turning to one of the young nobles with whom he had formed some acquaintance, he asked who he was.

"Why, do you not know?" exclaimed his companion. "That is Sir Walter, Lord of Roucq, one of our most renowned leaders. He has just arrived from Douay, they say; but the Count seems angry with that letter the courier brought him from Paris. Things are going ill there, I doubt, and we shall soon have a levy of arms. That Court is full of faitours and treachers--a crop of bad corn, which wants Burgundian hands to thin it."

"I trust that you will permit a poor Englishman to put in a sickle," said Woodville, laughing; "or at least to have the gleanings of the field."

"Oh! willingly, willingly!" replied the young lord, with better wit than might have been expected. "I cannot but think your good sovereigns in England have but been hesitating till other arms have begun the harvest, in order to take full gleanings of that poor land--but see, the Count is looking round to us."

"Hearken, my lords," said the Count. "It is my father's will that I should remain in Lille, while this noble knight rides on an expedition of some peril to the side of Tournay. He says the Lord of Roucq has men enough for what is wanted, and that some of you must abide with me here; but still I will permit any gentlemen to go who may choose to do so, provided a certain number stay with me; so make your election."

The young nobles of Burgundy were rarely unwilling to take the field; but in the present instance, there were two or three motives which operated to make them in general decide in favour of staying with the Count of Charolois. In the first place, they knew of no enterprise that could be achieved on the side of Tournay which offered either glory or profit. There were a few bands of revolted peasantry and brigands in that quarter, whom the Count had threatened to suppress; but such a task was somewhat distasteful to them. In the second place, they were not insensible to the fact, that by choosing to stay with the Prince, they offered him an indirect compliment, which was especially desirable at a moment when he seemed angry at not being permitted to lead them himself; and, in the third place, the Lord of Roucq was inferior in rank to most of them, though superior in military reputation; and he was, moreover, known to be a somewhat strict disciplinarian, a quality by no means agreeable either to the French or Burgundian gentlemen.

"I came to serve under you, my lord the Count," said the young Ingram de Croy; "and if you do not go, and I am permitted to choose, where you stay I will remain."

The old Lord of Roucq gazed at him coldly, but made no observation; and the same feeling was found general, till the Count turned with a smile to Richard of Woodville, asking his choice.

"Why, my noble lord," replied the young Englishman, "if I could serve you here, I should be willing enough to stay; but, as that is not the case, I had better serve you elsewhere; and wherever this good knight goes, doubtless there will be some honour to be gained under his pennon."

Walter of Roucq still remained silent, but he did not forget the willingness of the foreign gentleman; and one very young noble of Burgundy, whose fortune and fame were yet to make, taking courage at Woodville's words, proposed to go also.

"I have but few men with me, my lord the Count," he said, with the modesty which was affected, if not felt, by all young men in chivalrous times; "and, as you know, I have but small experience; wishing to gain which, I will, by your good leave, serve under the Lord of Woodville here, who, I think you said, had been already in several stricken fields, and was a comrade of the noble King of England."

"King Henry calls him his friend, Monsieur de Lens, in his letter to me," replied the Count; "and I know he has gained los in several battles, though I have been told that he was disappointed of his spurs at Bramham Moor (he did not pronounce the word very accurately); because such was the trust placed in his discretion, that he was sent to the late King just before the fight, when no one else could be trusted."

Again Richard of Woodville marvelled to find his whole history so well known; but the Count went on immediately to add to the young Englishman's troop ten of his own men-at-arms. "You, Monsieur de Lens, brought seven, I think," he said; "so that will be some small reinforcement to your menÉe, my Lord of Roucq;" and drawing that gentleman aside, the Prince whispered to him for some moments.

"Willingly, willingly, fair sir," replied the old knight, to whatever it was he said. "God forbid I should stay any noble gentleman anxious to do doughty deeds. He shall have the cream of it, and it shall go hard if I give him not the means to win the spurs. Monsieur de Woodville, I set out in half an hour. I will but have some bread and a cup of wine, and then am ready for your good company."

But little preparation was needed, for all had been kept ready to set out at a moment's notice. Nevertheless, in the little arrangements which took place ere they departed, there sprang up between Richard of Woodville and the Lord of Lens what may be called the intimacy of circumstances. The young Burgundian, though brave, and well practised in the use of arms, was diffident, from inexperience, of more active and perilous scenes than the tilt-yard of his father's castle, or the jousting-lists in the neighbouring town; and he was well satisfied to place himself under the immediate direction of one who, like Richard of Woodville, had fought in general engagements, and served in regular armies. He had also some dread of the Lord of Roucq; but by fusing his party into the English gentleman's band, he placed another between himself and the severe old soldier, so that he trusted to escape the harsh words which their commander was not unaccustomed to use. To Woodville, then, he applied for information regarding every particular of his conduct; how he was to place his men, where he was to ride himself, and a thousand other particulars, making his companion smile sometimes at the timidity which he had personally never known, from having been accustomed, even in boyhood, to the troublous times and continual dangers which followed the usurpation of the throne by the first of the Lancasterian House.

While they were conversing over these matters, one of the pages of the Count of Charolois joined them from the inn, and bade the English gentleman follow him to the Prince. The Count was alone in a small bed-room up stairs, and the temporary vexation which his countenance had expressed some time before, had now quite passed away. He met Richard with a laughing countenance, and, holding out his hand to him, exclaimed, addressing him by the name he had given him ever since their first interview, "God speed you, my friend. These rash nobles of ours have taken themselves in; and though stern old De Roucq does not wish it mentioned that he is going on such an errand, I would have you know it, that you may take advantage of opportunity. I love you better for going with him than staying with me, as you may well judge, when I tell you that his object is to meet my father, and guard him from Paris to Lille, if the Duke can effect his escape from the French court. My father would not have me come, for he is likely to be pursued, it seems; and he says in his letter, that should mischance befall him, while I remain in Lille there will still be a Duke of Burgundy to crush this swarm of Armagnac bees, even should they sting him to death. However, you must not tell De Roucq that I have given you such tidings; for if he knew it, he would scold me like a Nieuport fishwoman, with as little reverence as he would a horse-boy."

"I will be careful, my good lord," replied Richard of Woodville; "but if such be the case, had we better not have more men with us? Six or seven and twenty make but a small band against all the chivalry of France."

"Oh! he has got two hundred iron-handed fellows beyond the gates," replied the Prince. "But, hark! there is his voice. Quick! quick! you must not stay!" and hurrying down into the little square before the hostel, the young Englishman found the men drawn up, and the Lord of Roucq, with a page holding his horse, and his foot in the stirrup.

"Ah! you are long, sir," said the old knight, swinging himself slowly up into the saddle. Nevertheless, Richard of Woodville was on horseback before him; for, laying his hand upon his charger's shoulder, he vaulted at once, armed at all points as he was, into the seat, and in another instant was at the head of his men.

"A boy's trick!" said the old soldier, with a smile. "Never think, young gentleman, that you can make up for present delay by after activity: it is a dangerous fancy."

"I know it, my good lord," replied Richard of Woodville; "but I had to speak with my lord the Count before I departed."

"Well, sir, well," answered the Lord of Roucq; and, wheeling round his horse, he gazed over the little band, marking especially the fine military appearance, sturdy limbs, and powerful horses of the English archers, with evident satisfaction. "Ah!" he said, "good stuff, good stuff! Have they seen service?"

"Most of them," replied Richard of Woodville.

"They shall see more, I trust, before I have done with them," rejoined the old knight. "Come, let us go. March!"--and, leading the way through the streets of Lille, a little in advance of the rest of the party, while Richard of Woodville and the young Lord of Lens followed side by side at the head of their men, he soon reached the gates of the city, without exchanging a word with any one by the way.

"Why, this is strange," said the Lord of Lens to his companion, in a low voice, as they turned up towards the side of Douay, instead of taking the road to Tournay. "This is not the march that the Count said was laid out for us. The old man knows his road, I suppose?"

"No fear of that," replied Richard of Woodville; "our business, comrade, is to follow, and to ask no questions. Perhaps there is better luck for us than we expected. Commanders do not always tell their soldiers what they are leading them to;" and turning his head as they came forth into the broad open road which extended to Peronne, through the numerous strong towns at that time comprised in the Flemish possessions of the House of Burgundy, he gave orders, in French and English, for his men to form in a different order--nine abreast. Some little embarrassment was displayed in executing this manoeuvre; and he had to explain and direct several times before it was performed to his satisfaction.

The Lord of Roucq looked round and watched the whole proceeding, but made no observation; and, after proceeding for about two miles farther on the way, Woodville again changed the order of his men, when the old commander suddenly demanded, "What are you playing such tricks for?"

"For a good reason, sir," replied Richard of Woodville; "I have men under me who have never been accustomed to act together--my own people, those of this young lord, and the men-at-arms of my lord the Count. I know not how soon you may call upon us for service, or what that service may be; and it is needful they should have some practice, that they may be alert at their work. I have learnt that, in time of need, it does not do to lose even a minute in forming line."

"Ay, you Englishmen," replied the old lord, "were always better aware of that fact than we are. There would never have been a Cressy, if Frenchmen would have submitted to discipline. They will fight like devils; but each man has such an opinion of himself, that he will fight in his own way, forgetting that one well-trained man, who obeys orders promptly, is better than a hundred who do nothing but what they like themselves. Ride up and talk with me, young men; I do not see why we should not be friends together, though those satin jackets at Lille did not choose to march with old Walter de Roucq." After speaking with some bitterness of the turbulent spirit and insubordination which existed in all continental armies, the Lord of Roucq led the conversation to the military condition of England, and inquired particularly into the method, not only of training the soldiers of that country, but of educating the youths throughout the land to the early use of arms, which he had heard was customary there.

"Ay, there is the difference between you and us," he said, when Woodville had explained the facts to him;--"you are all soldiers; and your yeomen, as you call them, are as serviceable as your knights and gentlemen. With us, who would ever think of taking a boor from the plough, to make a man-at-arms of him? No one dares to put a steel cap on his head, unless he has some gentle blood in his veins, though it be but half a drop, and then he is as conceited of it as if he were descended from Charlemagne. I have charge to give you, sir, the best occasions," he continued, still addressing Woodville, "and I will not fail; for I see you know what you are about, and will do me no discredit."

"I beseech you, my good lord, to let me share them with him," said Monsieur de Lens; "I am as eager for renown as any man can be."

"You will share them, of course, as one of his band," replied the old soldier, "and I doubt not, young gentleman, will do very well. I will refuse honour to no one who wins it;" and thus conversing, they rode on as far as Pont a Marq, where they found a large body of men-at-arms waiting for the old Lord of Roucq.

Richard of Woodville remarked that they were most of them middle-aged men, with hard and weather-beaten countenances, who had evidently seen a good deal of service; but he observed also that--probably, from the unwillingness of the Burgundian nobility to submit to anything like strict discipline--there seemed to be few persons of distinction in the corps, and not one knight but the old Lord himself. Without any pause, the whole party marched on to Douay, the young Englishman losing no opportunity of exercising his men in such evolutions as the nature of the ground permitted, and many of the old soldiers of De Roucq watching his proceedings in silence, but with an attentive and inquiring eye.

At Douay they halted for an hour and a half, to feed their horses and to take some refreshment; and then marching on, they did not draw a rein again till Cambray appeared in sight. Here all the party expected to remain the night; for Cambray, as the reader well knows, is a good day's march from Lille, especially for men covered with heavy armour, and for horses who had to carry not only the weight of their masters and their masters' harness, but steel manefaires, testiÈres, and chanfrons of their own. The orders of the commander, however, showed them, before they entered the gates, that such repose was not to fall to their lot, for he directed them to seek no hostel, but to quarter themselves, without dividing, in the market-place, and there to feed their beasts.

"'Tis a fine evening," he said, "and you shall have plenty of food and wine; but we must march on, for an hour or two, at night, that we may be in time to-morrow. If we have more space than enough in the morning, why the destriers will be all the fresher."

No one ventured to make any reply, though the men-at-arms of the Count of Charolois felt somewhat weary with their unwonted exertion, and would fain have persuaded themselves that their beasts could go no farther that night. Their leader, or vingtner, who held the rank of a sergeant of the present day, and usually commanded twenty men, went so far as to hint his opinion on this subject to Richard of Woodville; but the young Englishman stopped him in an instant, replying coldly, "If your horses break down we must find you others. We have nothing to do but to obey."

The young Englishman took care, however, that the chargers of his whole party should have everything that could refresh them, and he spared not his own purse to procure for them a different sort of food from that which was provided for the rest. The crumb of bread soaked in water was a favourite expedient with the English of that day, as it is now with the Germans, for restoring the vigour of a wearied horse; and he made bold to dip the bread in wine, which, on those beasts that would take it, seemed to produce a very great effect.

After halting for two hours, the march was renewed; and wending slowly onward, they reached the small town--for it was then a town--of Gonlieu, having accomplished a distance of nearly eighteen leagues. It was within half an hour of midnight when they arrived, and the good people of the place had to be roused from their beds to provide them with lodgings; but a party of two hundred men-at-arms was not in that day to be refused anything they might think fit to require; and, in the different houses and stables of the town, they were all at length comfortably housed.

Richard of Woodville was not one of those men who require long sleep to refresh them after any ordinary fatigue; and though, with the care and attention of an Arab, he spent a full hour in inspecting the treatment of his horses before he lay down to rest, yet, after a quiet repose of about four hours and a half, he awoke, and instantly sprang from the pallet which had been provided for him. He then immediately roused the young Lord of Lens, who, with five or six others, slept in the same chamber; but the poor youth gazed wildly round him, at first seeming to have forgotten where he was; and it required a hint from his English friend, that the old Lord of Roucq was a man likely to be up early in the day, ere he could make up his mind to rise.

Woodville and his companion had been in the stable about five minutes, and were just setting the half-awakened horse-boys to their work, when a voice was heard at the open door, saying, "This is well!--this is as it should be!" and, turning round, they saw the figure of the old knight moving slowly away to the quarters of another party.

In an hour more, they were again upon the road; but their march was this day less fatiguing; and Woodville remarked that their veteran leader seemed to expect some intelligence from the country into which they were advancing; for at each halting place he caused inquiries to be made for messengers seeking him, and more than once stopped the peasantry on the road, questioning them strictly, though no one clearly seemed to understand his drift. He seemed, too, to be somewhat undecided as to his course, and talked of going on to Orvillers, or at least to Conchy; but he halted for the night, however, at Tilloloy, and quartered his men in that village and St. Nicaise.

Woodville and his party were lodged in the latter, where also the old commander slept; but about three in the morning the young Englishman was roused by voices speaking, followed by some one knocking at a neighbouring door; and half-raised upon his arm, he was listening to ascertain, if possible, what was the cause of this interruption of their repose, when the door of the room was opened, as far as the body of one of the English yeomen, who slept across it, would permit.

"Halloo! Master Woodville," said the voice of the Lord of Roucq. "Up, and to horse--your beasts are not broken down, I trust?"

"They have had time to rest since six last night," replied Woodville, "and will be found as fresh as ever, for they feed well."

"Like all true Englishmen," answered the old soldier. "Join me below in a minute; I have something to say to you."

Dressing himself, and giving hasty orders for the horses to be fed and led out, the young Englishman went down to the ground-floor, where everything was already in bustle, and perhaps in some confusion. The Lord of Roucq was surrounded by several of his own officers, and was giving them orders in the sharp tones of impatience and hurry.

"Ha! Sir Englishman," he exclaimed, as ho saw Woodville, "how long will it take you to be in the saddle?"

"Half an hour," replied Richard of Woodville.

"And these men want two hours!" cried the old leader. "Well, hark ye!"--and leading Woodville aside, he whispered, "'Tis as well as it is: there will be no jealousy. Get your horses out with all speed, and you shall have the cream of the affair, as I promised the young Count. You must know I am bound to meet our good Duke at Pont St. Maxence. He makes his escape from Paris this morning; and as he brings but four men with him, I fear there may be those who will try to stop him. His plan is, to go out to hunt with the King in the forest of Hallate, and there to be met by some one bringing him letters, as if from Flanders, requiring his hasty return. Then he will decently bid the King adieu, and ride away. I was in hopes to have had time enough to be near at hand with my whole force, to give him aid if they pursue or stay him, though he tells me in the packet just received, to meet him at Pont St. Maxence. However, it is as well that some should proceed farther; and if you can get the start of us, you can take the occasion."

"I will not miss it," replied Woodville; "but two things may be needful--one, a letter to the Duke; and another, some one who knows the road and the forest."

"What sort of letter?" demanded De Roucq, sharply. "What is the letter for?"

"To call the Duke back to Flanders," replied Richard of Woodville. "I will be the person to deliver it, should need be."

"Ay, that were as well," answered the old knight; "though doubtless he has arranged already for some one to meet him; yet no harm of two. It shall be written as if others had been sent before. I will call my clerk, for of writing I know nought."

"In the meanwhile I will see for a guide," answered Woodville; and going forth, he inquired, amongst the attendants of the young Lord of Lens and the men-at-arms of the Count of Charolois, for some one who was acquainted with the forest of Hallate. One of the latter had been there in former days, and remembered something of the roads, with which amount of information Richard of Woodville was forced to content himself, trusting to meet with some peasant on the spot who might guide him better. He then gave orders for bringing out the horses without farther delay, and for charging each saddle with two feeds of corn; and returning to the Lord of Roucq, he found him dictating a letter, by the light of a lamp, to a man with a shaven crown. Before it was finished, for the style of the good knight was not fluent, the jingle of arms and the tramp of horses' feet were heard before the inn; and looking round, with a well-satisfied smile, the old soldier exclaimed, "Ha! this is well!--This is the way to win los. There, that will do, Master Peter; fold and seal it. Then for the superscription, as you know how."

Some five minutes, however, were spent upon heating the wax, tying up the packet, and writing the address, during which time Richard of Woodville looked on with no small impatience, fearing that he might be forestalled by others in executing a task which promised some distinction. At length all was complete; and, taking the letter eagerly, he hurried out and sprang into the saddle.

The Lord of Roucq added various cautions and directions, walking by the young Englishman's horse for some way through the village; but at length he left him; and putting his troop to a quicker pace, Woodville rode on towards Pont St. Maxence.