[[A.D. 1317.]] During this fourteenth century there was the most dreadful famine ever known in England, which lasted nearly three years. On one occasion, when the king and queen were dining in public in the great hall of the palace at Westminster, a woman, wearing a mask, entered on horseback, rode straight up to the royal table, and handed a letter to the king. Thinking that it probably contained "some agreeable flattery", he ordered it to be read aloud. But, to his great mortification, it took him severely to task for his unkingly fancies, and blamed his bad government for all the calamities that had befallen the country. The woman was immediately arrested, and confessed that she had been employed by a certain knight. The person she named boldly acknowledged that he had written the letter, supposing that it would be read in private, and that the king would thus be informed of the complaints of his subjects. [[A.D. 1321.]] {193} [Illustration: 8197] It was about four years after this event that the queen first met Roger Mortimer, the man who exercised such an influence over her life. By this time the king had two new favorites named Despencer. They were father and son, and both were bitter enemies to Roger Mortimer. The circumstances of Isabella's life so began to shape themselves at this period that from being a lovely, amiable peace-maker, she became a bad, cruel, dishonored traitor. {194}In 1321 she set out on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St Thomas à Becket, proposing to spend the night at Leeds Castle, which was her own property. Baron Badlesmere had charge, of this castle, and lived there with his wife, so Isabella sent a marshal in advance to have everything put in order for her reception, not imagining for a moment that any objection could possibly be raised to her stopping there. But the baron was absent from home, and had charged his wife to protect the castle from any intruders whatsoever. Not knowing what might be the real object of the queen's visit, Lady Badlesmere did just the wrong thing when the royal messengers arrived, treated them with insolence, and said, "that the queen might seek some other lodging, for she would admit nobody within the castle without an order from her lord."