I need not particularly narrate the events which followed this combat for life or death; how, in a few days after it was fought, the prince was convinced, by evidence which could not be doubted, that the plot in which I was accused of participating had no existence; and how King Edward, on hearing of everything connected with the business, swore that, come what might, justice should be done me, and that speedily. Ere the close of June my adversary had left Bordeaux for England, and so had I. But he returned to his native land to take the habit of a monk in a religious house which his ancestors had endowed; I to assume the name which I had received at the baptismal font, and, as son of Edward, Lord De Ov, to take possession of the castle and baronies in which, since the Norman Conquest, the chiefs of the house of De Ov had maintained feudal state.
[CHAPTER LXXV]
GLORY AND THE GRAVE
I had been some time in England when the Prince of Wales achieved the last of the great triumphs which enshrined his name in imperishable glory; and Englishmen learned with pride that, on the south of the Ebro, the heir of England had, against great odds, fought a great battle, and won a great victory, to decide the fate of Castille and Leon.
It was some time after I left the city of Bordeaux that a guest, whose appearance created much interest, and excited much curiosity, arrived at the court of Guienne, and, being in extreme perplexity, demanded the aid of the Prince of Wales. Already he was becoming known as Peter the Cruel. A few weeks earlier he had been King of Castille. But his bloodthirstiness and tyranny had disgusted his subjects; and his illegitimate brother, Henry of Trastamare, with the aid of Bertrand du Guesclin and the French, had found it no difficult matter to drive him from a kingdom where his unpopularity was so great. Exile, however, as Don Pedro was, he did not despair; for he knew that the Prince of Wales was at once the most chivalrous and most skilful warrior of the age, and he hoped to persuade the young hero to espouse his cause, to trample Henry of Trastamare and Du Guesclin in the dust, and to re-seat him on the throne from which he had been driven.
It speedily appeared that Don Pedro had rightly calculated his chances. Indeed, the prince, moved by generosity and compassion, became quite enthusiastic in his cause, and eager to aid him to the utmost. Nor was he without the power of so doing; for the country at that time was overrun with the "free companies," ever ready to hire their swords for pay; and Pedro promised, on his word as a king, that, in the event of being restored to his rights, money should be forthcoming to satisfy all demands. Nothing, indeed, could be more magnificent than his promises. It really seemed that every soldier who fought for him was certain to make a fortune, and might indulge in visions of boundless wealth. Not doubting the royal exile's good faith, the prince, after holding many councils, resolved to raise an army and march into Spain as Pedro's champion.
It must be admitted that the enthusiasm of the prince was not shared by all around him; and the Princess of Wales was one of those who entertained grave doubts as to the policy of the expedition. When tidings that the prince had finally decided on marching to restore Pedro was conveyed to her while at her toilette, she expressed herself strongly.
"I grieve to hear," said she, "that my husband has allowed himself to be imposed on by a man so criminal and so cruel."
"Ha!" exclaimed the prince, when her words were reported to him, "I see she wants me to be always at her side; but, by St. George," added he, "say what they may, I am determined to restore Castille to its rightful inheritor."
In fact, the die was cast; and the prince, having assembled an army of thirty thousand men, marched for Spain, and, having crossed the Ebro, came up with the foe between Navarretta and Najara.