Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/96

76 with forced marches to the coast; and four thousand fresh troops, which were coming from England at the beginning of September, and had been countermanded at the capture of Boulogne, were now sent for in haste. The Duke of Norfolk, being weakened by the defection of the Netherlanders, and being liable to be cut off by the advance of the French, raised the siege of Mottreul, and fell back.

The change in the state of affairs, as well as the condition of his health, required the King's presence in England. He crossed to Dover on the 3oth of September, and a meeting was held instantly of the privy council, in which it was agreed to send a remonstrance to Charles, and call upon him, since he admitted that the treaty was still in force, to unite in insisting that France should abide by the terms which she had offered to England.

Henry's absence from the scene almost occasioned the loss of the one advantage which the English had gained. Norfolk had been ordered to occupy the heights behind the town, where the English army had spent the summer, and to remain there while the Dauphin was in the field. Either through timidity or mistake, he only left three thousand men and a party of pioneers under Sir Edward Poynings behind the half-repaired fortifications which had been destroyed in the siege, and retired within the Calais Pale. Irritated beyond measure at a disobedience which imperilled the only