Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/82

62 was, however, it was entrusted to Arras, and by him on the 11th of September was carried to Boulogne.

On his arrival he found the siege at the point of a successful completion. The garrison had resisted with a courage which had called out Henry's admiration. 'They fought hand to hand,' the King wrote on the 8th of the same month to the Queen, 'much manfuller than either Burgundians or Flemings would have done; such as we have of these will do no good where any danger is, nor yet abide there with their will.' But the parallels had been steadily advanced, the walls had been breached and mined in all directions, and the fall of the town had for some days been a mere question of time. While D'Annebault had been intriguing with Charles and Granvelle, Du Bellay had remained at Abbeville, still keeping open an opportunity for Henry as long as the first had remained unclosed. The two ministers were struggling in the direction of their sympathies—one to secure England, the other the Empire—and Francis was only anxious to divide the allies. Du Bellay's standing offers were to pay the arrears, to continue the pension, to pay the expenses of the war, to surrender Ardes, and, more important than all the rest, 'to cause the Scots to be ordered in reason, or to abandon them.' Henry had replied consistently that, although by treaty he might make larger demands, 'yet he had more regard to the common weal