inquired if anything had happened that the lord Chevlet should come to
him in this wise.
'If anything has happened yet, I know not,' answered Chevlet sternly;
'but happen it will, and that speedily, unless it is hindered by those
with more truth and honour in their souls than the lord duke. Rather
would I have died in battle than see my sovereign a traitor.'
Again there was silence. Francis would gladly have sprung to his feet
and struck him dead for his insolence, but something held him back;
Chevlet's words were true, and his conscience bore witness to it. At
length he plucked up a little courage, and stammered out that all would
be well, as Henry was to wed the king's daughter and heiress of England.
'Else would I not have parted from him,' added he. But Chevlet did not
deign to even notice his excuses.
'Let him leave Brittany by a foot, and no mortal creature can save him
from death,' was all he said. 'You have thrown him into the jaws of the
lion, and you must deliver him from them.'
'But how?' asked the duke, who, now that his treachery was so plainly
set before him, felt both shame and repentance. 'Counsel me what to do,
and I will do it.'
Then Chevlet's voice softened a little, though the light of contempt
still remained in his eyes, and he bade the duke send Pierre Landois,
his treasurer, in all haste to St. Malo, to bring back the Englishmen at
all hazards: by fair means if he could, by force if need be. Right
gladly did Landois undertake the task.
'He did not slug nor dream his business,' says the chronicler, but on
his arrival at St. Malo sought at once an interview with the bishop, and
by some pretext which he had invented managed again to hinder the
sailing of the vessel, as the wind showed signs of veering to a
favourable quarter. That night, while the treasurer was deeply engaged
in conferring with the envoys, a little procession stole through the
narrow streets of the towns. It consisted of a litter with a sick youth
in it, carried on the shoulders of four stout men, with a tall
grey-haired man walking at their head. Noiselessly they passed along,
creeping ever in the shadow, stopping every now and then in some doorway
darker than the rest to make certain that no one was following them. At
last they reached their goal, the Sanctuary of St. Malo; and here not
even the emperor himself had power to touch Henry. He was safe under the
protection of the Church. Early next morning the captain of the vessel
sent a sailor to inform the bishop that the ship could put to sea in an
hour's time, and at the same moment arrived a messenger wearing the
livery of the duke of Brittany.
'My master, Pierre Landois, the grand treasurer, bade me tell you that
your bird has flown,' said he; 'and he wishes you a safe voyage,' he
added, tinning to the door, where his horse awaited him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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