In the meantime Warwick had raised an army to take to England, whither he went as soon as the wedding ceremonies were over. His wife, Queen Margaret, Prince Edward and his bride then went to Paris by invitation from Louis XI. The streets of the city were magnificently decorated and hung with rich tapestry, and all the officers turned out in grand procession to conduct the royal party to the palace of St. Paul, that had been fitted up for their reception. It was there that news came of the landing of the Earl of Warwick in England, and of his success in liberating King Henry and placing him on the throne once more. [[A.D. 1471.]] Then Margaret with all her party resolved to return. In February the preparations were completed, and the fleet set sail from Harfleur. But wind and weather were against them, and after three times being driven back to the coast of Normandy, with great damage to the ships, they resolved to wait. When at last they were able to sail again, they were sixteen days and nights making a voyage that usually took twelve hours. After landing, they repaired to an abbey, where they were celebrating Easter when the dreadful news came of the death of Warwick and the recapture of King Henry. For the first time in her life the poor queen was completely crushed, and wished she might die rather than live for the misery that was yet in store for her. Some of the Lancastrian nobles sought her out, and expressed their intention of continuing the fight against Edward IV., and at last so aroused her from the despondent state into which she had fallen that she consented to aid them. Placing herself at the head of an army that they had raised, she marched thirty-seven miles in one day, and met her enemy within a mile of Tewksbury. When all arrangements were made for the battle, Margaret rode about the field from rank to rank, encouraging the soldiers with promises of large rewards if they won the victory. It proved a sorry day for the Lancaster cause, {315}and when Queen Margaret saw her troops wofully defeated she fell down in a swoon. She was carried from the battlefield to a small convent near by, where her daughter-in-law and some of her ladies awaited her. She was thus spared witnessing the fall of her son, who was killed near the close of the battle; but when the dreadful truth was brought to her, she cursed King Edward and all his posterity in her agony of grief. When this was repeated to the king, he thought of putting her to death, but with a refinement of cruelty that was even worse, he forced her and the unfortunate Princess of Wales to take part in his triumphal entry to London. Margaret was then shut up in the dismal prison where her husband had been for five years, but she beheld him never again, for he was murdered the very night of her arrival in the gloomy fortress of the Tower.