The Earl of Douglas, as we have seen, was punished by being sent back to Scotland. Sir John Falstaff, contrary to his reasonable expectations, was not made either Duke or Earl, in recompense of an achievement for which, whether really performed by him or no, he at least obtained credit in the opinion of many impartial persons. Herein we find not merely an illustration of the proverbial ingratitude of monarchs, but also one, by implication, of the personal jealousy of Prince Henry towards Sir John Falstaff, whom, as the sequel will show, the Prince of Wales treated with the most pointed malignity from the date of the Shrewsbury action to that of the knight’s death. I will merely remark that Henry Plantagenet--fifth English king of that name--_was not a man to do anything without a motive_. What Sir John Falstaff really gained by his glorious victory of Shrewsbury shall be seen in future chapters. It will be found that he was not a loser by the transaction. I will conclude the present chapter by a quotation from our knight’s expressed opinions before entering the field of battle:-- “Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour pricks me off when I “come on? How then? Can honour set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. “Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery “then? No. What is honour? A word. What is that word honour? “Air; a trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday? “Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible, then? “Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? “Detraction will not suffer it;--therefore, I’ll none of it. Honour is a “mere scutcheon, and so ends my catechism.” I think the above observations prove that Sir John Falstaff knew rather more about honour than most people of his time, and therefore deserves a prominent position amongst the honourable men of the age he lived in. BOOK THE FOURTH, 1410--1413. I. OF THE SIGNAL VICTORY GAINED BY SIR JOHN FALSTAFF OVER THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND. There is reason to believe that Sir John Falstaff remained for some months in the north-west of England, doubtless employed in pursuit of the scattered remnants of the rebel forces. Some considerable time must have elapsed from the date of the battle of Shrewsbury to that of his next appearance in London of which we have any positive record. Sir John was most favourably received on his return to the metropolis, where he was more than compensated for the ingratitude of the court by the hospitable treatment of the citizens, at whose expense he and his retainers feasted in great profusion for many weeks, solely on the strength of the glowing accounts received (never mind from what source) of our knight’s achievements in Shropshire. But a warrior like Sir John may not long rest on his laurels. A new enemy had to be faced, arising in an unexpected quarter.