I met three or four English commanders of my acquaintance, and spoke to them according to the king’s directions; but for one that they commanded to leave the town, there were twenty came in. After me, the king sent the Lord of Gié[466] (now Marshal of France), and having found me, we went together into a tavern, where, though it was not nine o’clock, there had already been 111 reckonings to pay that morning. The house was filled with company, some were singing, some were asleep, and all were drunk; upon seeing which, I concluded there was no danger, and sent to inform the king of it; who came immediately to the gate, well attended, and ordered 200 or 300 men-at-arms to be armed privately in their captains’ houses, and some of them he posted at the gate by which the English entered. The king ordered his dinner to be brought to the porter’s lodgings at the gate, where his majesty dined, and did several English officers the honour of admitting them to dinner with him. The King of England had been informed of this disorder, and was much ashamed of it, and sent to the King of France to desire his majesty to admit no more of his troops into the town. The King of France sent him word back, he would not do that, but if he pleased to send a party of his own guards thither, the gate should be delivered up to them, and they might let in or shut out whomever they pleased. In short, so they did, and several of the English, by their king’s express command, were ordered to evacuate the town. And then, in order to bring the whole affair to a conclusion, they consulted what place would be most convenient for the interview of the two kings, and persons were appointed to survey it; the Lord du Bouchage and I were chosen to represent our master; and the Lord Howard, one Chalanger, and a herald, represented the King of England. Upon our taking a view of the river, we agreed the best and securest place was Picquigny, a strong castle some three leagues from Amiens, belonging to the Vidame[467] of Amiens, which had been burnt not long before by the Duke of Burgundy; the town lies low, the River Somme runs through it, and is not fordable or wide near it. On the one side, by which our king was to come, was a fine champaign country; and on the other side it was the same, only when the King of England came to the river, he was obliged to pass a causeway about two bow-shots in length, with marshes on both sides, which might have produced very dangerous consequences to the English, if our intentions had not been honourable. And certainly, as I have said before, the English do not manage their treaties and capitulations with so much cunning and policy as the French do, let people say what they will, but proceed more ingenuously, and with greater straightforwardness in their affairs; yet a man must be cautious, and have a care not to affront them, for it is dangerous meddling with them.