"Royal lady," said the Earl, "I have not seen the Duke. You know his temper to be wilful, sudden, haughty, and unpersuadable. If he can adopt the calm and sustained policy which the times require, I little doubt his obtaining full amends of Louis, his sworn enemy, and even of Edward, his ambitious brother-in-law. But if he continues to yield to extravagant fits of passion, with or without provocation, he may hurry into a quarrel with the poor but hardy Helvetians, and is likely to engage in a perilous contest, in which he cannot be expected to gain anything, while he undergoes a chance of the most serious losses." "Surely," replied the Queen, "he will not trust the usurper Edward, even in the very moment when he is giving the greatest proof of treachery to his alliance?" "In what respect, madam?" replied Oxford. "The news you allude to has not reached me." "How, my lord? Am I then the first to tell you that Edward of York has crossed the sea (_b_) with such an army as scarce even the renowned Henry V., my father-in-law, ever transported from France to Italy?" "So much I have indeed heard was expected," said Oxford; "and I anticipated the effect as fatal to our cause." "Edward is arrived," said Margaret, "and the traitor and usurper hath sent defiance to Louis of France, and demanded of him the crown of that kingdom as his own right--that crown which was placed on the head of my unhappy husband, when he was yet a child in the cradle." "It is then decided--the English are in France!" answered Oxford, in a tone expressive of the deepest anxiety.--"And whom brings Edward with him on this expedition?" "All--all the bitterest enemies of our house and cause--The false, the traitorous, the dishonoured George, whom he calls Duke of Clarence--the blood-drinker, Richard--the licentious Hastings--Howard--Stanley--in a word, the leaders of all those traitors whom I would not name, unless by doing so my curses could sweep them from the face of the earth." "And--I tremble to ask," said the Earl--"Does Burgundy prepare to join them as a brother of the war, and make common cause with this Yorkish host against King Louis of France?" "By my advices," replied the Queen, "and they are both private and sure, besides that they are confirmed by the bruit of common fame--No, my good Oxford, no!"