Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/170

150 had been considered an adequate protection. Either careless of Charles's displeasure, or confident that he would not be displeased, they broke in suddenly through Bredenarde, overran the country, killing the unarmed peasants and villagers, and, except for the rain which had filled the dykes and impeded their movements, they might perhaps have carried Guisnes by surprise. The more important object was missed, but several hundred people were destroyed; and having inflicted heavy injury by burning farms and villages, they retired at their leisure, by the route by which they had advanced; they recrossed into France, broke up, and the campaign was over.

The adventure might have been pardoned if it had formed the close of a series of successes; but the alliance with England, recklessly as the Emperor had dealt with it, continued to exist, and the desire for its maintenance was beginning to revive. It was true that his obligations were interpreted by his convenience; but France, exhausted by failure, and England, inspirited by victory, were no longer in the same relative positions as at the Peace of Crêpy. The religious enthusiasm, and the zeal for Catholic unity, had been cooled by a slackness on the part of Francis in evacuating Piedmont; and at this very time, on the 9th of September, the Duke of Orleans, whose marriage with his niece or his daughter was to form the connecting