Page:Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (Robinson 1886).djvu/84

Rh Emperor would have left in his hands no king whom a hard captivity might incline to shameful terms, but a simple nobleman whom he could have no interest to misuse. In his prison at Madrid, Francis spent long hours in drawing up the act of abdication, by which he renounced the crown of France in favour of his eldest son. In these letters patent, Francis narrates his misfortunes of Pavia, his illness in prison, and the rigour of Charles; he speaks of the journey of Margaret, and how all her reasonable offorts were refused; then he adds that he would rather that he should remain all his lifetime in prison than sever his kingdom of France in pieces. He and his children will pay the price, "They are born for the good of my kingdom; true children of the public weal"; and France, he reminds his subjects, has been governed well by younger kings with the help of good counsel. He therefore appoints the Dauphin Francis, King of France, under the regency of Madame. In the event of the death of Madame, her place shall be filled by "nostre très chère et très amée seur unicque Marguerite de France." But, in case of the deliverance of the King, this act and all its contents to be held null and void.

History with one voice has attributed the inspiration of this act to Margaret. This one counsel, the cheering cordial of her presence, and the furtherance of a friendship between her brother and Leonor, was all she had accomplished in the visit from which she had hoped so much. And now that visit was at an end. She had incautiously let the three months covered by her safe conduct slip towards the close, dreading no treachery on the Emperor's part in her sweet, dense reliance on the honour of others. But she was warned in time, either by the suspicion of her