It was the first
time that he had been away from home, and his spirits were high at thus
starting on a career that would, he hoped, bring him fame and honour.
Henry and his brother and sister were also in good glee, although the
journey was no novelty to them, for they had made it twice previously.
Beyond liking change, as was natural at their age, they cared not whether
they were at their English or at their French home, as they spoke both
languages with equal fluency, and their life at one castle differed but
little from that at the other.
Embarking at Portsmouth in a ship that was carrying military stores to
Calais, they coasted along the shores of Sussex and of Kent as far as
Dungeness, and then made across to Calais. It was early in April, the
weather was exceptionally favourable, and they encountered no rough seas
whatever. On the way Sir Eustace related to Guy and his sons the events
that had taken place in France, and had led up to the civil war that was
raging so furiously there.
"In 1392, the King of France being seized with madness, the Dukes of
Burgundy and Orleans in a very short time wrested the power of the state
from the hands of his faithful councillors, the Constable de Clisson, La
Riviere, and others. De Clisson retired to his estate and castle at
Montelhery, the two others were seized and thrown into prison. De Clisson
was prosecuted before Parliament as a false and wicked traitor; but the
king, acting on the advice of Orleans, who had not then broken with the
Dukes of Burgundy and Berri, had, after La Riviere and another had been in
prison for a year, stopped the prosecution, and restored their estates to
them.
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