But to return to the army before Paris. It will not be doubted that scarce a day passed without some loss or gain on both sides, but nothing considerable on either. For the king would not suffer his forces to sally out in great bodies, nor would he bring his affairs to the hazard of a battle; his only desire being for peace, in order to break and divide our forces as wisely as he could. However, one day early in the morning, 4000 of his frank-archers came and posted themselves along the bank of the river, over against the Hotel de Conflans. The nobles of Normandy, and some few of the household troops, were disposed in a village about a quarter of a league off, with only a fair plain between them and their infantry, and the River Seine between us and them. The king’s troops began to throw up a trench over against Charenton, and made a bulwark there of wood and of earth, all along the front of our army. This ditch or trench was thrown up (as has been said already) before Conflans, with the river between us and them, and upon that trench and bastion they planted a great number of pieces of cannon, which played briskly upon the Duke of Calabria’s quarters, and at the first firing drove his men out of Charenton, and forced them to retire in great haste to our camp, with the loss of some few horses and men. So the Duke of Calabria took up his quarters in a little house, between the river and the place where the Count of Charolois lay. The enemy immediately began to cannonade our camp, which threw the whole army into consternation; for, upon the first firing, they killed us abundance of men, and two cannon shots coming through the room where the Count of Charolois was sitting at dinner, killed a trumpeter on the stairs, as he was bringing up a dish of meat.