John’s last act had been to commend his eldest son to the care of the Earl of Pembroke, William the Marshal. “Sirs”--thus he is said to have addressed the few friends who stood around his death-bed--“I must die. For God’s sake, pray the Marshal to forgive me the wrongs that I have done him. He has always served me loyally, and never requited me an ill turn for any evil that I have done to him or said to him. Sirs, for God’s sake Who made the world, pray him that he will forgive me; and because I trust in his loyalty more than in that of any other man, I beg you that he may have my son in his charge, and always keep him and guard him; for the child will never be able to hold his land through any one, unless it be through the Marshal.”[2] When the Marshal, who was at Gloucester, “heard say that the King his lord was dead, he was grieved thereat.” He set out at once to meet the funeral train at Worcester; Gualo the Legate, who no doubt also was somewhere in the west of England, did the like; and a goodly company of clerks and knights were present with them at the burial. As soon as it was over, “the great men”--that is, probably, the Legate and the Marshal--hurried back to Gloucester, and sent out a summons to all those barons who held with the King to join them there without delay. The appeal met with a quick response; a council was held, and all present unanimously agreed that they should send for little Henry “and do with him what God should teach them to be reasonable and right.” The child had been placed for safety in the castle of Devizes; Sir Thomas de Sandford was despatched to fetch him thence, and the Marshal went as far as Malmesbury to meet him.[3] The heir of England was gifted with more than the ordinary attractiveness inherent in youth and innocence; he had a beautiful face, with golden hair, and he was already noted for a gravity and dignity of speech beyond his years.[4] A faithful retainer, Ralf of Saint-Samson,[5] was “carrying him in his arms”--that is, probably, holding him on the horse’s neck before him--when, in the plain outside Malmesbury, William the Marshal met the little company coming from Devizes. The Marshal saluted the future King; “and the well-trained child said to him, ‘Welcome, Sir! Truly, I commit myself to God and to you, that for God’s sake you may take care of me; and may the true God Who takes care of all good things grant that you may so manage our business that your wardship of me may be prosperous.’ ‘Fair Sir,’ answered the Marshal, ‘I tell you loyally, as I trust my soul to God, I will be in good fealty to you, and never forget you, so long as I have power to do anything.’” The boy burst into tears, and the bystanders and the Marshal did the like “for pity.”[6]