"Open, governor, open!" cried Philip impatiently.
"Who is it?" again demanded the governor, in a querulous tone.
"It is the Fortune of France," answered Philip solemnly.
And the governor, knowing his master's voice, came down; and the gate was speedily opened; and Philip of Valois and his friends, and I, their captive, silently entered La Broyes; and, so far as I was concerned, that melancholy night ride was ended.
[CHAPTER XXI]
AT LA BROYES
I have no doubt I entered the castle of La Broyes with a merrier heart than any of the party whose prisoner I happened to be. I was not likely to forget, and I did not forget, that I had formed one of the dauntless army which had just won a marvellous victory; and, albeit I was a captive, I felt—especially after having supped—more than half-inclined to believe my own mishap a trifle when I thought of the effect that would be produced in the cities and hamlets, and castles and granges of England, when through the land ran tidings that England's king had, without even putting on his helmet, put his continental enemies under his feet.
I was still musing on this subject—so grateful to English pride—and was on the point of stretching myself to rest on the floor of the chamber to which I had been conducted, when John of Hainault condescended to come and hold some conversation with me. I had not, of course, any idea of the Hainaulter's motive, and more than suspected that his object was to gain intelligence that might be turned to account. However, I deemed that I was guilty of no indiscretion in convincing him that I was not wholly without importance in the court of that country to which, twenty years earlier, he had escorted Queen Isabel the Fair when she came to dethrone her ill-starred husband, and to which, somewhat later, he had conducted his niece as the bride of King Edward, then on the point of throwing off the influence of his mother and Roger de Mortimer, and entering upon that career of victory which enabled him to take the highest place among the sovereigns of the age.
I flattered myself that I had reason to be satisfied with the impression I produced, and, indeed, soon found the advantage I had gained by asserting my dignity as page to the Prince of Wales. In fact, John of Hainault's countenance began gradually to relax, and he expressed himself on the event of the day with a frankness hardly to have been anticipated under the circumstances.