[[A.D. 1420.]] On his arrival he was conducted with great ceremony to the Hôtel de Ville, where apartments had been provided for him, and the next day he met Queen Isabeau and his lady-love at the church of Notre Dame, where, before the high altar, the articles of peace were read and signed. Henry's tall, handsome figure was well set off that day by the magnificent suit of burnished armor in which he appeared. In his helmet was a fox's tail ornamented with precious stones. A flowing plume would have been much prettier, but he liked to dress oddly sometimes, and no doubt thought that a little surprise of this sort would excite Katherine's interest. {274}After the treaty was signed, King Henry requested an interview with his lady-love, which was granted, nobody besides being present excepting one female attendant. Katherine could speak little English, and Henry's knowledge of French was slight, which made their love scene, as Shakspeare has represented it, quite laughable. When he asks her: "Do you like me, Kate?" she replies: "Pardonnez moi, I cannot tell vat is--'_like me?_'" But when he tells her she is like an angel, her knowledge of English serves her very well, though she modestly refers to her attendant, who speaks worse than she does, to have it explained. Henry makes a long speech, assuring her of his love, and asking for hers in return, and this she understands so well as to say: "Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?" "No," he replies, "it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate; but in loving me you should love the friend of France; for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it: I will have it all mine; and, Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France, and you are mine." That puts her head all in a whirl, and she says, with a slight frown: "I cannot tell vat is dat." But the lover soon explains all that he wants her to understand and receives her promise to marry him. Placing a superb ring of great value upon her finger, Henry kisses his lady-love and thus ends the ceremony of betrothal. The following month they were married; but this event did not put an end to the war, for the honeymoon was passed amidst a series of sieges and bloodshed, and there is no account of Katherine's once interceding with her husband for her wretched country. If she had not been selfish in her happiness she might have spared much misery to others. {275}After the siege of Melun, Henry had Queen Isabeau proclaimed regent of France, so that he might visit England to show off his pretty bride and have her crowned. First they made a triumphal' entry into Paris, where rich presents were offered to the youthful queen, and the rejoicings were on a most magnificent scale. The young couple spent Christmas in that city, and went on the 1st of February to Calais, where they embarked for England.