Page:The Queens of England.djvu/113

 ELEANOR OF PROVENCE. 95 a devoted adherent of her son's, that the prince might be rescued, if Wallingford were surprised by the troops at Bristol. This brave knight no sooner received this intimation, than, with three hundred horse, he proceeded to Wallingford at night, and so vigorously attacked it at daybreak, that he won the outer wall in spite of the desperate defense made by the garrison. Alarmed for the result, the .besieged answered from the inner wall, that if the object of their assailants was to get the prince, he would be shot to them by the mangonel, an engine of war, then in use for casting stones. This menace being heard by the prince, he sought permission to address his friends, and, from the wall, he declared that their persistence in the attack would cost him his life. They retired, greatly dispirited ; but this attempt furnished an excuse for the Earl of Leicester to convey his royal prisoner to Kenilworth Castle, where the sister of Henry, the Countess of Leicester, was then residing. The queen, though greatly disappointed by the failure of Sir Warren de Basingbourne's attempt to liberate the prince, was by no means disposed to remain inert while he was- a captive. Her next effort was to hold a secret correspondence with the Lady Maud Mortimer, who instructed Edward to attempt his escape, when taking his daily exercise on horseback, by engaging in races with his attendants till he had too much fatigued their steeds to pursue him, while she would have a fleet courser concealed in a neighboring grove. The prince adopted the project, gained his freedom, and joined his adher- ents. Meanwhile, Eleanor was not inactive, though frequently enjoined by the letters of Henry, dictated, no doubt, by Leices- ter, to take no step or change the state of affairs. With the money raised on her. jewels, and other resources, she collected in France a powerful army, and manned a fleet, to effect the liberation of her husband and his brother, the King of the Romans ; but, before they could land in England, the victory achieved by Prince Edward at the battle of Evesham rendered their services unnecessary. During this action the life of Henry, whom Leicester had placed in front of his troops, was exposed to great danger. Wounded in the shoul- der, he was on the point of being killed by one of the soldiers of Edward, who believed him to be on the adverse side, when he called aloud, "I am your king — slay me not!" He was rescued from his dangerous position by an officer, who con-