At Agincourt

At Agincourt

The Project Gutenberg EBook of At Agincourt, by G. A. Henty #14 in our series by G. A. Henty
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Title: At Agincourt
Author: G. A. Henty
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7060] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 4, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: Latin-1
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[Illustration: GUY AYLMER SAVES THE KING'S LIFE AT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.]

AT AGINCOURT
BY G. A. HENTY

PREFACE
The long and bloody feud between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy--which for many years devastated France, caused a prodigious destruction of life and property, and was not even relaxed in the presence of a common enemy-- is very fully recorded in the pages of Monstrellet and other contemporary historians. I have here only attempted to relate the events of the early portion of the struggle--from its commencement up to the astonishing victory of Agincourt, won by a handful of Englishmen over the chivalry of France. Here the two factions, with the exception of the Duke of Burgundy himself, laid aside their differences for the moment, only to renew them while France still lay prostrate at the feet of the English conqueror.
At this distance of time, even with all the records at one's disposal, it is difficult to say which party was most to blame in this disastrous civil war, a war which did more to cripple the power of France than was ever accomplished by English arms. Unquestionably Burgundy was the first to enter upon the struggle, but the terrible vengeance taken by the Armagnacs,--as the Orleanists came to be called,--for the murders committed by the mob of Paris in alliance with him, was of almost unexampled atrocity in civil war, and was mainly responsible for the terrible acts of cruelty afterwards perpetrated upon each other by both parties. I hope some day to devote another volume to the story of this desperate and unnatural struggle.
G. A. HENTY.

CONTENTS
I. A FEUDAL CASTLE
II. TROUBLES IN FRANCE
III. A SIEGE
IV. A FATAL ACCIDENT
V. HOSTAGES
VI. IN PARIS
VII. IN THE STREETS OF PARIS
VIII. A RIOT
IX. A STOUT DEFENCE
X. AFTER THE FRAY
XI. DANGER THREATENED
XII. IN HIDING
XIII. THE MASTERS OF PARIS
XIV. PLANNING MASSACRE
XV. A RESCUE
XVI. THE ESCAPE
XVII. A LONG PAUSE
XVIII. KATARINA
XIX. AGINCOURT
XX. PENSHURST

ILLUSTRATIONS
GUY AYLMER SAVES THE KING'S LIFE AT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.
GUY HAS HIS HEAD BOUND UP AFTER A BOUT AT QUARTER-STAFF.
"THE TWO MEN WHO LIT THE ALARM FIRES RODE INTO THE CASTLE."
"SIR EUSTACE GAVE A LOUD CRY, FOR LYING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIR WAS THE FORM OF HIS SON."
THE LADY MARGARET MAKES HER OBEISANCE TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY.
GUY AND LONG TOM COME TO THE RESCUE OF COUNT CHARLES.
"TOM'S BOW TWANGED, AND THE ARROW STRUCK THE HORSEMAN UNDER THE ARM-PIT."
"THE KING EXTENDED HIS HAND TO GUY, WHO WENT ON ONE KNEE TO KISS IT."
"WELL, COMRADE," SAID SIMON, "I SUPPOSE YOU ARE THE MAN I WAS TOLD WOULD COME TO-NIGHT?"
"GUY DELIVERED A SLASHING BLOW ON THE BUTCHER'S CHEEK, AND DASHED PAST HIM."
GUY WELCOMES THE COUNT OF MONTEPONE AND HIS DAUGHTER TO VILLEROY.
"KATARINA SWEPT A DEEP CURTSEY, AND WENT OFF WITH A MERRY LAUGH."

AT AGINCOURT
CHAPTER I
A FEUDAL CASTLE
"And is it true that our lord and lady sail next week for their estate in France?"
"Ay, it is true enough, and more is the pity; it was a sad day for us all when the king gave the hand of his ward, our lady, to this baron of Artois."
"They say she was willing enough, Peter."
"Ay, ay, all say she loved him, and, being a favourite with the queen, she got her to ask the king to accede to the knight's suit; and no wonder, he is as proper a man as eyes can want to look on--tall and stately, and they say brave. His father and grandfather both were Edward's men, and held their castle for us; his father was a great friend of the Black Prince, and he,