Louis contemplated his punishment with the bitterest animosity. When he received the overture above stated, there were only in his presence the lord {xlv} Howard the English hostage, the lord de Coutay, who was newly returned from an embassy to the duke of Burgundy, the lord du Lude, and Commines, which two had been employed to receive the constable's messenger. The king, calling for one of his secretaries, dictated a letter to the constable, acquainting him with what had been transacted the day before in relation to the truce; and adding that at that instant he had weighty affairs upon his hands, and wanted such a head as his to finish them. Then turning to the English nobleman and to the lord de Coutay, he said, "I do not mean his body. I would have his head with me, and his body where it is." After the letter had been read, Louis delivered it to Rapine the constable's messenger, who was mightily pleased with it, and took it as a great compliment in the king to write that he wanted such a head as his master's, for he did not perceive the ambiguity and sting of the expression. We are now arrived at the closing reflections of Commines upon the course which events had taken in France at this memorable crisis. "At the beginning of our affairs with the English, you may remember that the king of England had no great inclination to make his descent; and as soon as he came to Dover, and before his embarkation there, he entered into a sort of treaty with us. But that which prevailed with him to transport his army to Calais was first the solicitation of the duke of Burgundy, and the natural animosity of the English against the French, which has existed in all ages; and next to reserve to himself a great part of the money which had been liberally granted him for that expedition; for, as you have already heard, the kings of England live upon their own demesne revenue, and can raise no taxes but under the pretence of invading France. Besides, the king had another stratagem by which to content his subjects; for he had brought with him ten or twelve citizens of London, and other towns in England, all fat and jolly, the leaders of the English commons, of great power in their countries, such as had promoted the wars and had been very serviceable in raising that powerful army. The king ordered very fine tents to be made for them, in which they lay; but, that not being the kind of living they had been used to, they soon began to grow weary of the campaign, for they expected they should come to an engagement within three days of their landing, and the king multiplied their fears and exaggerated the dangers of the war, on purpose that they might be better satisfied with a peace, and aid him to quiet the murmurs of the people upon his return to England; for, since king Arthur's days, never king of England invaded France with so great a number of the nobility and such a formidable army. But, as you have