Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/97

1544.] feature in his position, Henry wrote the most angry letter which survives of his composition. 'He marvelled how Norfolk had durst so to do without knowledge of his pleasure'—'excuse there was none.' He must return without a moment's delay to the position which he had been commanded to hold. Unluckily, the King might order, but the mischief was done, and obedience was no longer possible. Between Calais and Boulogne the Dauphin now lay with fifty thousand men, horse and foot. Norfolk had but eight thousand remaining; and Boulogne must be left to the courage of the little band to whom it had been entrusted. The letter in which the Duke stated his inability to repair his error was written on the yth of October. At midnight on the 9th a party of French made their way through the ruins of the walls of the lower town, wearing white shirts over their armour, to imitate the smock frocks of the English labourers. When the alarm was given they raised the English cry of 'Bows! bows!' and in the confusion, and protected by their disguise, they killed the sentinels and threw open the gates. Poynings, with the efficient portion of the garrison, was in the fortress on the higher ground. To meet the French were only the camp-followers, servants, and workmen, half-armed, encumbered with the disorder which had followed the siege, amidst stores freshly landed from England, spoils waiting to be removed, carts, waggons, the baggage of the army which