‘First, in regard to the dignity we hold, that you write you do not approve it, nor the manner by which we have obtained it. We are certainly very much surprised at this, for we made you fully acquainted with our intentions before we departed from France; at which time you approved of it, and even promised us aid against our very dear lord and cousin, king Richard, whom God pardon! We would not accept of your assistance; and we hold your approbation or disapprobation of our undertaking of little worth, since it has pleased God, by his gracious favour, to approve of it, as well as the inhabitants of our kingdom. This is a sufficient reply to such as would deny our right,—and I am confident in the benign grace of God, who has hitherto guarded us, that he will continue his gracious mercy and bring the matter to so happy a conclusion that you shall be forced to acknowledge the dignity we enjoy, and the right we have to it. ‘In regard to that passage in your letter, where you speak of the decease of our very dear cousin and lord, whom God pardon! adding, God knows how it happened, and by whom caused,—we know not with what intent this expression has been used; but if you mean, or dare to say, that his death was caused by our order or consent, it is false, and will be a falsehood every time you utter it,—and this we are ready to prove, through the grace of God, in personal combat, if you be willing and have the courage to dare it. ‘As to your saying, that you would have preserved the alliance made between us, if we had not undertaken such offensive measures against our very dear lord and cousin, who was so intimately related to your lord and brother by marriage and treaties sealed with their seals, adding, that at the time you made the alliance with us, you never imagined we should have acted against our very dear lord and cousin, as is publicly known to have been done by us,—we reply, we have done nothing against him but what we would have dared to do before God and the whole world. ‘You say, that we might have seen in the bond of alliance what persons were excepted in it, and whether our very dear and well beloved cousin, the lady Isabella, your much honoured lady and niece, was not comprehended in those excepted. We know that you excepted them in general; but when, at your request, I entered into this alliance, you did not make any specific exceptions of them, like to what you did respecting your fair uncle of Burgundy; and yet the principal cause of your seeking our friendship, and requesting this alliance to be made, was your dislike to your uncle of Burgundy, which we can prove whenever we please, and then all loyal men will see if you have not been defective in your conduct as to our alliance; and though hypocrisy may not avail before God, it may serve to blind mankind.