CONCLUSION. ^53 



in his pockets, as in a London ball-room, but he turned to his Falcon. 

 Thus did the Earl of Angus, when pressed by Mary of Lorraine to give up 

 a castle, and Henry IV. when urged to sacrifice the life of Richard IL 



I must repeat the latter story, though well known; for Froissart is so 

 quaint that one never tires of him when he lifts the curtain of those 

 chivalrous days, and discloses a scene so different from our own. 



" The King's Council speaks : ' Sire, so long as Richard of Bordeaux 

 lives, the country will never have peace.' ' I believe what you say may be 

 true,' replied the King ; ' but with regard to me, I will never put him to 

 death. I have given him my word that no bodily harm shall befall him ; 

 and I will keep my promise until it shall appear that he enters into any 

 plots against me.' ' Sire,' answered the knights, ' his death will be more to 

 your advantage than his life : for so long as the French know he is alive, 

 they will exert themselves to make war against you, in the hope of replacing 

 him on the throne, on account of his having married the daughter of their 

 king.' The King of England made no reply, but leaving them in conversation 

 went to his falconers, and placing a falcon on his wrist forgot all in feeding 

 him " [" appeared to forget " would be nearer the truth]. 



Again, a man thinks little when he knocks over a Pheasant at the warm 

 corner, and does not condescend to pick it up. This is the abundance of 

 A.D. 1877 ; but AD. 1454 tells another story, and a somewhat different scene 

 rises before our vision when Philip the Good (" Good at need," we must 

 presume, like Sir William of Deloraine) gave the celebrated banquet called 

 the " Fete du Faisan," and in a way which would make a modern keeper 

 laugh (though it might be rather dangerous to laugh then). A Pheasant was 

 brought into the hall by the King-at-arms, having around its neck " a collar 

 of gold richly garnished with pearls and other gems " (Kirk's ' History of 

 Charles the Bold,' vol. i. p. 88). To witness this very simple incident all 



