[34] Paul II. Pietro Barbo, a Venetian.
THE BASTARD DE REUBEMPRÉ IS SENT TO HOLLAND, TO ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE COUNT DE CHAROLOIS.—HE IS ARRESTED HIMSELF.
During the king of France's stay at Hêdin, the bastard de Reubempré was ordered, by I know not whom, to embark on board a vessel of war, called a ballenier,[35] at Crotoy, with forty picked men, of good courage, and to sail for Holland, where the count de Charolois then resided. None of the crew knew whither the bastard intended to carry them, nor what orders he was charged with, except that they were told they must follow him wherever he should choose to lead them, and implicitly obey his commands.
The bastard, on his arrival at a port in Holland, left his vessel at anchor, and, taking with him three or four of his most trusty companions, advanced within a league of the town in which the count de Charolois was. But notwithstanding the great care he took to proceed as secretly as possible, he was nevertheless discovered while drinking at an alehouse, and the count informed thereof, who caused him and his companions to be arrested and put into prison. The companions were soon after set at liberty, and the bastard remained alone in confinement. The count dispatched officers to seize the vessel and crew; but they had heard of their captain's ill luck, and had put to sea instantly to return to Crotoy.
It was currently reported at the time, that the king of France had ordered the bastard de Reubempré, by letters written with his own hand, and signed by him, to seize the count de Charolois, and bring him to him dead or alive. This plan was laid while the king was at Hêdin, and while he had a powerful army on the Somme; and had it succeeded, he would have made prisoner good duke Philip, who was far from suspecting any thing of the kind, and would have had him led about in his train, like to the duke of Savoy, his brother-in-law, until he should have married the only child of the count de Charolois (a damsel not more than seven or eight years old) to whomsoever he pleased, and should have divided the territories of the duke,—namely, the duchy of Brabant to the count de Nevers, and the rest among his favourites at his pleasure.
But God, who knows the hearts of men, would not permit so great ruin to fall on the noble house of Burgundy, which is the fairest, firmest, and strongest pillar of the French crown! May God, of his especial grace, always keep the two noble houses of France and Burgundy in peace and good harmony! Although I have now written down what was the common report of the time, I can never believe the king of France capable of imagining such schemes of wickedness, against the illustrious house of Burgundy, considering the great honours and services he had received so lately from the heads of it.
As soon as the bastard de Reubempré was arrested, and had confessed his guilt to the count de St Pol, then in Holland, he was put under close confinement; and the count de Charolois sent information of what had passed to his father, then at Hêdin, where he had grandly entertained the queen of France, who had come to visit him from Abbeville and Nouvion.—At this time, the duke of Bourbon waited on the king at Abbeville, in whose good graces he was not, from the report that he, the duke of Brittany, and the count de Charolois had formed a triple alliance, and had mutually sworn to assist each other with the utmost of their power, should the king make any attempts on their persons or property.