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CHAPTER XV.
ISABELLA OF VALOIS, SURNAMED THE LITTLE QUEEN, SECOND WIFE OF RICHARD II.

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(A. D. 1387–1410.)

It seems strange that when Richard II. reached the age of thirty he should have had a fancy to share his throne with a child of nine, yet that was the age of Isabella of Valois, when he married her.

She was the eldest daughter of Charles VI. of France and the wicked Isabeau of Bavaria; but fortunately she inherited nothing from her mother but her beautiful dark eyes and clear olive complexion; her goodness and lovely character she got from her father.

When Richard was told that Isabella was too young for him, he replied: "that every day would remedy the deficiency of age, and her youth was one of his reasons for preferring her, because he should educate her to his own mind, to the manners and customs of the English; and that, as for himself, he was young enough to wait for her."

A.D. 1396. When the English ambassadors waited on Isabella to solicit her hand for Richard, one of them dropped upon his knees and said: "Madam, if it please God, you shall be our lady and queen." Without any prompting, the little maid replied; "Sir, if it please God and my lord and father that I be Queen of England, I shall be pleased thereat, for I have been told I shall then be a great lady."

Her appearance and manners were very pleasing, and from the time when it was proposed that she should marry Richard, she began to practise how to behave as queen, though she could not prepare herself for the sad experience that awaited her in that exalted position.

King Richard went to Paris, attended by a retinue of the first noblemen of his realm, to claim his little wife. At a magnificent dinner given by the King of France, the last of a series of entertainments that had been held in honor of his royal guest, Isabella was presented to her future lord. Then, attended by her parents and the whole court, she was conveyed in a rich litter to Calais, where the marriage ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. "The little queen," as Isabella was called from that time, made a public entry into London a few days later, when many rich and beautiful gifts were presented to her.

The bride's marriage portion consisted of 800,000 francs in gold. Her trousseau was magnificent; among the garments was a robe and mantle such as had never been seen in England for costliness. It was composed of crimson velvet, embossed with solid gold birds, perched on branches of real pearls and emeralds. Down each side was a border of miniver, there was a cape and hood of the same fur, and the mantle was lined throughout with ermine. Another robe was light blue velvet, embroidered with pearl roses; the little lady had besides coronets, rings, necklaces, and buckles worth a large sum of money and beautiful enough to delight the heart of any girl. Her bedroom curtains were of red and white satin with embroidered figures. Isabella was crowned at Westminster in 1397, when she was just ten years old; then she went to reside at Windsor, where her education was continued under the guidance of Lady de Courcy.

King Richard made frequent visits to his little wife, each

one being the occasion of a holiday from study, and of a great deal of pleasure to the child who anticipated the appearance of her lord with no little impatience. Richard was always courteous and gentle in his manners towards ladies, and had a lively disposition, which rendered him a very congenial companion; besides, he dressed with such exquisite taste that the admiration he inspired in the heart of Isabella warmed into an affection that she never ceased to entertain for him as long as he lived.

When King Richard went to France to claim his bride, he spent so much money that he found himself deeply involved in debt. This led to a fierce struggle with the party headed by his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Earl of Arundel. At last Richard would bear it no longer, so he managed to rid himself of both his opponents. This he did by having the duke treacherously murdered, and the earl illegally executed.

But Richard was not accustomed to such cruel deeds, and his conscience troubled him to such a degree that he would often start up from his bed at night and cry out in horror: "That his bed was covered with the blood of the earl." The sudden death of Roger Mortimer, lord deputy of Ireland, to whom Richard was warmly attached, called him to that country to quell the rebellion that ensued.

Before his departure he went to Windsor to bid farewell to Isabella; while there he dismissed Lady de Courcy on account of excessive extravagance, and appointed his widowed niece, Lady Mortimer, in her stead, as governess and first lady of honor to his young consort.

The parting scene between the royal couple was very touching, the king lifting his wife up in his arms and kissing her repeatedly while offering words of hope and comfort.

Henry of Bolingbroke, who had been absent from England for several years, returned while Richard was away—a most unfortunate circumstance for the royal cause. The Duke of York, who acted as regent in the king's absence, was alive to the little queen's position, and hurried her off to the fortress of Wallingford.

Attended by sixty thousand fighting men, Henry of Bolingbroke marched through England and presented himself before the very gates of Flint Castle, where Richard, with a handful of faithful knights, had fortified himself. Upon Henry's boldly demanding admittance the king agreed to allow him, with eleven others, to pass the wicket of the castle. But it was soon evident that any such precaution was unnecessary, for on looking out of the window the king beheld the army that had come to besiege him, and surrendered himself at once.

While King Richard and Henry of Bolingbroke stood in the courtyard of the castle waiting for their horses, Math, the beautiful greyhound that always accompanied the king when he rode out, and would never follow nor notice anyone else, suddenly dashed through the court, leaped upon Henry, and put both paws on his shoulders, as he had been wont to do to the king. Henry asked the meaning of his being thus selected for the animal's caresses. "Cousin," replied the king sadly, "it means a great deal for you, and very little for me; for the natural instinct of my favorite dog prompts him to fondle and pay his court to you as King of England, which you will be, and I shall be deposed."

Richard was taken to London and lodged in the Tower, where he suffered torment because he could get no information as to the fate of his Isabella. After a time he offered to resign his crown to Henry of Bolingbroke, now called the Duke of Lancaster, but received only taunts and reproaches in reply. Meanwhile "the little queen" had been removed from Wallingford to Leeds Castle in Kent. At the next session of parliament, the members remained seated at Westminster Hall, while Henry, with a number of priests, dukes, and earls rode to the Tower, dismounted in the courtyard and entered the Hall. Then King Richard, on being summoned, walked in with his crown upon his head and the sceptre in his hand, and addressed the assembly as follows: "I have reigned King of England, Duke of Aquitaine, and Lord of Ireland about twenty-two years; which royalty, lordship, sceptre, and crown, I now freely and willingly resign to my cousin, Henry of Lancaster, and entreat of him in the presence of you all to accept this sceptre." The king was then conducted back to his apartments in the Tower, and the crown and sceptre were safely locked away in the treasury of Westminister Abbey.

The following October, Henry of Lancaster assembled parliament, and was crowned with great ceremony as Henry IV. Isabella had been removed to Sunning Hill, where she was treated as a state prisoner, and kept in ignorance of the fate of her husband.

Shortly after the coronation of Henry IV. a plot against his life was discovered, and then the fate of poor Richard was sealed, as we shall see.

Henry's attendants kept constantly reminding him, by hints and insinuations, that as long as Richard lived he could not reign peaceably, until worn out with care and anxiety he wearily asked one day while sitting at table: "Have I no faithful friend who will deliver me of one whose life will be my death, and whose death my life?" After such a speech from the king it was not likely that Richard's life would long be spared. His attendants began to treat him with so little ceremony at last that the royal prisoner remarked upon it one day when he was dining; whereupon he was informed that King Henry had given new orders.

"The devil take Henry of Lancaster and thee together!" exclaimed Richard in a passion, striking the attendant who had answered with a carving-knife. At that instant eight armed men rushed into the room; Richard started up, seized the weapon that the one nearest to him, held, and defended himself so valiantly that four of the attacking party were slain outright. Then while he was fiercely warding off the blows of three others, the leader of the band jumped upon the chair Richard had occupied while dining, and dealt him a blow on the back of his head that killed him instantly.

A.D. 1339. Thus fell the son of the Black Prince at the early age of thirty-two, and Queen Isabella was made a widow before she was thirteen.

The King of France was suffering from an attack of insanity, therefore could take no steps for the restoration of his daughter, but the French council requested Henry IV. to allow her to return to her native land. He refused, saying "that she should reside in England, as all other queen-dowagers had done, in great honor; and that if she had unluckily lost a husband she should be provided with another who would be young, handsome, and in every way deserving of her love, that person being no other than the Prince of Wales." But Isabella mourned her murdered spouse so sincerely that she rejected the gallant Henry of Monmouth and no longer felt any pride in being Queen of England.

When Charles VI. recovered, he sent ambassadors to inquire into the condition of his daughter in England, and to make arrangements for her return. But it was not until late in July, eighteen months after the death of Richard II. that his widow was restored to her parents. Henry had seized her jewels and dower, and refused to give them up.

A.D. 1402. The goodness and amiable disposition of the youthful queen had won the affection of her English ladies, and when she parted from them they wept so much

that she was obliged to comfort them, though she, too, was in tears.

In 1406 Henry IV. again proposed for the hand of Isabella for the Prince of Wales, declaring that if the marriage could be brought about he would abdicate the English crown in favor of his son. But the little queen had meanwhile promised to marry her cousin, Charles of Angoulême, sun of the Duke of Orleans. An unfavorable answer was therefore given to the English ambassadors, who were very much displeased at their failure.

Isabella was not married to her cousin until the murder of his father by the Duke of Burgundy made him Duke of Orleans.

A.D. 1410. She loved him dearly, and lived happily with him for nearly two years, but she was only a little more than twenty-one when her death occurred. This Duke of Orleans was a celebrated poet, whose compositions are still read in France. We quote one written shortly after his sad bereavement, but it is much prettier in the original French:—

"Alas!

Death, who made thee so bold,

To take from me my lovely princess?

Who was my comfort, my life,

My good, my pleasure, my riches.

Alas! I am lonely, bereft of my mate

Adieu, my lady, my lily!

Our loves are forever severed."