for Orleans or Burgundy, but what if Henry of England should again lead an
army here?"

"But why imagine what is not likely to happen? Long ere Henry comes I may
have joined you again; should it be otherwise I might perhaps escape, or
at the very worst of all they could but keep me in duress in my chamber.
Who ever heard of a woman being ill-treated for the disobedience of her
lord? All that they could do would be to make you pay ransom for my
return."

"I would rather go as a hostage myself."

"Nay, husband, that could hardly be. Who would then take care of your
castle? It is not a hard thing that the king asks, merely that I and the
children shall for a time live at his court as a proof that you, his
vassal, hold your castle for him. Even if the worst comes to the worst we
can but lose castle and land, as we must lose it now if I do not go. Nay,
my dear lord, do not wrinkle your brow, we cannot strive against the might
of France; and at present we must bow our heads and wait until the storm
has passed, and hope for better times. There may be an English war; ere
long Henry may again extend his frontiers, and you might again become a
vassal of England for these possessions of yours even as your fathers
were."

"I see that reason is on your side, Margaret, and yet I cannot bring
myself to like the plan."

"Nor do I like it, husband; yet I feel that it were a thousand times
better that I should be separated from you for a time than that we should
risk another siege. The last has cost us dear enough, another might take