‘Henry succeeded in his attempt, but, thank God! the duke of Orleans has failed. And to confirm the truth of this alliance, the duke of Orleans has ever been favourable to the English, and has assisted Henry with all his power, and particularly in regard to the siege of the castle of Bordes, when he sent to the garrison not to surrender it to the French, for that he would hinder the success of the siege, and afford them sufficient succour when there should be need of it. He also prevented many expeditions from taking place, which were intended against the English.
‘Thus he proved himself a tyrant and disloyal to his prince and to the welfare of the kingdom, and committed high treason of the first degree, in a second manner. In confirmation of this, a fact has just struck me which I will relate to you. At the time when king Richard was a prisoner, and it was the intention of Henry to have him put to death, some of the english lords said to him, that great danger might ensue from the indignation of the French. Henry replied, they need not have any fears on that head, for he had a powerful friend in France, to whom he had allied himself, namely, the duke of Orleans, brother to the king, who would not, for any attempt that might be made on king Richard, suffer the French to attack the English; and to convince them, he made them read the letters that had passed, and the articles of the treaty concluded between them. It appears then, that the duke of Orleans has, in various ways, committed high treason of the first degree.
‘I shall now finish this article of my minor, although there be many other very horrible crimes perpetrated by the duke of Orleans of the first degree of high treason, which my lord of Burgundy reserves to charge him with at a proper opportunity, should there be a necessity for it.
‘I proceed to the second article of my minor, wherein I shall charge the duke of Orleans with being guilty of the crime of high treason, not only in the first, but also in the second degree, which consists in offending the king in the person of the queen his wife.
‘It is a fact, that about four years after the king was attacked by his unfortunate disorder, the profligate duke of Orleans never ceased imagining how he could succeed in his wicked and damnable designs, and thought that if he could prevail on the queen to quit the kingdom with her children, he would the more readily obtain his object. With this intent, he falsely informed her, that the king was very indignant against her,—and advised her, as she regarded her own life and the lives of her children, to quit the presence of the king and to leave the country.
‘He offered to conduct her and them to the duchy of Luxembourg (thinking that when there he could do with them as he pleased), and promised the queen that he would there safely guard her and her children. He added, that should the king recover from his frenzy, and should he perceive that he was no longer angry with her, and that she might safely return, which he engaged to urge to the king with all his power, he would re-conduct her and her children to his majesty. And in case the king should not have changed his opinion concerning her, he would maintain her according to her rank in the duchy of Luxembourg, were any of the nobles, or even the king or others to visit her. The better to colour his wicked designs, he gave the queen to understand that this project must be kept secret, and executed with much caution, lest she and her family should be stopped on the road to Luxembourg. He advised her to undertake a pilgrimage with her children to St Fiacre, and thence to our Lady at Liesse, whence he would escort her to Luxembourg, and give her such an establishment as should be suitable for her and her children’s rank, until the present dispositions of the king should be changed.
‘He frequently pressed the queen on this subject, using nearly the words I have related, all tending to put the queen and her children in his power to do with them as he pleased. They certainly were in great danger,—and it would have increased, if some worthy persons, real friends to the queen, had not informed her, that all she had heard was false, which made her alter her intentions the moment she discovered the wicked and damnable designs of the duke or Orleans. She determined, in consequence, not to undertake this journey.—Thus concludes the second article of my minor, which plainly proves the late duke of Orleans guilty of high treason against the person of the queen of France.
‘I shall now show, that the duke of Orleans has been guilty of high treason in the third degree, by three different crimes: the first, by poisons and intoxications; the second, by fallacious deceptions; the third, by his false representations to the pope.
‘In regard to my first charge, I declare the late duke of Orleans guilty of intending the death of the late dauphin by means of a poisoned apple which was given to a child, with orders to offer it to my lord the late dauphin, and to none other, which was done. It chanced as he was carrying this apple, he passed through the gardens of the hôtel de St Pol, where he met the nurse to the children of the duke of Orleans, carrying one of them in her arms. The apple seemed so beautiful that she bade the child give it to her, that she might present it to the infant she was carrying,—but he said he would not give it to any one but my lord the dauphin. Seeing the boy so obstinate, the nurse took the apple from him by force and gave it her child to eat, who soon after fell sick and died.
‘I here ask one question. This innocent died of the poisoned apple: ought the boy who brought it, or the nurse who gave it the child, be punished? I reply, No, neither of them; but the crime must be attributed to those who poisoned it, or caused it to be carried.