dying of consumption, the royal children were confided to the care of
Margaret, whose husband accompanied the army. Louise of Savoy at first
repaired to Lyons with her children, in order to be nearer to Italy,
but she and Margaret soon returned to Blois, where the Queen was
dying. Before the royal army had reached Milan Claude expired, and soon
afterwards Louise was incapacitated by a violent attack of gout, while
the children of Francis also fell ill. The little ones, of whom Margaret
had charge, consisted of three boys and three girls, the former being
Francis, the Dauphin, who died in 1536, Charles, Duke of Orleans, who
died in 1545, and Henry, Count of Angoulême, who succeeded his father on
the throne. The girls comprised Madeleine, afterwards the wife of
James V. of Scotland, Margaret, subsequently Duchess of Savoy, and the
Princess Charlotte. The latter was particularly beloved by her aunt
Margaret, who subsequently dedicated to her memory her poem _Le Miroir
de l'Ame Pécheresse_. While the other children recovered from their
illness, little Charlotte, as Margaret records in her letters to Bishop
Briçonnet, was seized "with so grievous a malady of fever and flux,"
that after a month's suffering she expired, to the deep grief of her
aunt, who throughout her illness had scarcely left her side.

This affliction was but the beginning of Margaret's troubles. Soon
afterwards the Constable de Bourbon, in conjunction with Pescara
and Lannoy, avenged his grievances under the walls of Pavia. On this
occasion, as at Marignano, the Duke of Alençon commanded the French
reserves, and had charge of the fortified camp from which Francis,
listening to Bonnivet, sallied forth, despite the advice of his best
officers. The King bore himself bravely, but he was badly wounded and
forced to surrender, after La Palisse, Lescun, Bonnivet, La Trémoïlle,
and Bussy d'Amboise had been slain before his eyes. Charles of Alençon
was then unable to resist the advice given him to retreat, and thus save