Richard II Part 18

"Adieu, madame. Adieu till we meet again."

As soon as Richard was gone, a great number of the leading and influential people began to form plans to keep him from coming back again, or at least to prevent his ever again ruling over the realm.

Henry, who was now in Paris, and who, since his father was dead, was now himself the Duke of Lancaster, began to receive letters from many persons urging him to come to England, and promising him their support in dispossessing Richard of the throne.

Henry determined at length to comply with these proposals. He found many persons in France to encourage him, and some to join him. With these persons, not more, it is said, than sixty in all, he set sail from the coast of France, and, pa.s.sing across the Channel, approached the coast of England. He touched at several places, to ascertain what was the feeling of the country toward him. At length he was encouraged to land. The people received him joyfully, and every body flocked to his standard.

The Duke of York, whom Richard had left as regent, immediately called a council of Richard's friends to consider what it was best to do. On consultation and inquiry, they found that the country would not support them in any plan for resisting Henry. So they abandoned Richard's cause at once in despair, and fled in various directions, intent only on saving their own lives.

The Duke of York went to Windsor Castle, took the queen and her attendants, and conveyed them up the river to the Castle of Wallingford, where he thought they would be more safe.

In the mean time, the king's expedition to Ireland resulted disastrously, and he returned to England. To his utter dismay, he learned, on his arrival, that Henry had landed in England, and was advancing toward London in a triumphant manner. He had no sufficient force under his command to enable him to go and meet his cousin with any hope of success. The only question was how he could save himself from Henry's vengeance. He dismissed the troops that remained with him, and then, with a very few attendants to accompany him, he sought refuge for a while among the castles in Wales, where he was reduced to great dest.i.tution and distress, being forced sometimes to sleep on straw. At length he went to Conway, which is a town near the northern confines of Wales, and shut himself up in the castle there--that famous Conway Castle, the ruins of which are so much visited and admired by the tourists of the present day.

In the mean time, Henry, although he had marched triumphantly through England at the head of a large, though irregular force, had not proclaimed himself king, or taken any other open step inconsistent with his allegiance to Richard. But now, when he heard that Richard was in Wales, he went thither himself at the head of quite a large army which he had raised in London. He stopped at a town in North Wales called Flint, and, taking his lodgings there, he sent forward an earl as his messenger to Conway Castle to treat with Richard. The earl, on being introduced into Richard's presence, said that his cousin was at Flint Castle, and wished that he would come there to confer with him on matters of great moment. Richard did not know what to do. He soon reflected, however, that he was completely in Henry's power, and that he might as well make a virtue of necessity, and submit with a good grace; so he said he would accompany the earl to Flint Castle.

They had not gone far on the road before a large number of armed men appeared at the road side, in a narrow place between the mountains and the sea, where they had been lying in ambush. These men were under the earl's command. Little was said, but Richard saw that he was a prisoner.

On his arrival at Flint Castle,[J] Richard had an interview with Henry. Henry, when he came into the king's presence, treated him with all due reverence, as if he still acknowledged him as his sovereign.

He kneeled repeatedly as he advanced, until at length the king took him by the hand and raised him up, saying, at the same time,

[Footnote J: There is some discrepancy in the accounts in respect to the castle where this interview was had, but this is not material.]

"Dear cousin, you are welcome."

Henry replied,

"My sovereign lord and king, the cause of my coming at this time is to have again the rest.i.tution of my person, my lands, and my heritage, through your majesty's gracious permission."

The king replied,

"Dear cousin, I am ready to accomplish your will, so that you may enjoy all that is yours without exception."

After some farther insincere and hypocritical conversation of this sort, breakfast was served. After breakfast, Henry conducted the king to a window on the wall, from which, on looking over the plain, a vast number of armed men, who had come from London with Henry, were to be seen. Richard asked who those men were. Henry replied that they were people of London.

"And what do they want?" asked Richard.

"They want me to take _you_," said Henry, "and carry you prisoner to the Tower; and there will be no pacifying them unless you go with me."

Richard saw at once that it was useless to make any resistance, so he submitted himself entirely to such arrangements as Henry might make.

Henry accordingly set out with him on the journey to London, ostensibly escorting him as a king, but really conveying him as a prisoner. On the journey, the fallen monarch suffered many marks of neglect and indignity, but he knew that he was wholly in the power of his enemies, and that it was useless to complain; indeed, his spirit was completely broken, and he had no heart to make even a struggle. On reaching London, he was conducted to the Tower. He was lodged there as he had often been lodged before, only now the guards which surrounded him were under the command of his enemies, and were placed there to prevent his escape, instead of to protect him from danger.

Henry immediately convened a Parliament, issuing the writs, however, in the king's name. This was necessary, to make the Parliament technically legal. When the Parliament met, articles of accusation were formally brought against Richard. These articles were thirty-three in number. They recapitulated all the political crimes and offenses which Richard had committed during his life, his cruelties and oppressions, his wastefulness, his maladministration of public affairs, the illegal and unjust sentences of banishment or of death which he had p.r.o.nounced upon peers of the realm, and various other high crimes and misdemeanors.

While these measures were pending, Richard's mind was in a state of dreadful suspense and agitation. Sometimes he sank into the greatest depths of despondency and gloom, and sometimes he raved like a madman, walking to and fro in his apartment in his phrensy, vowing vengeance on his enemies.

He had interviews from time to time with Henry and the other n.o.bles.

At one time Henry went with the Duke of York and others to the Tower, and sent a messenger to the king, requesting him to come to the apartment where they were, as they wished to see him.

"Tell Henry of Lancaster," said the king, "that I shall do no such thing. If he wishes to see me, let him come to me."

So they came to the king's apartment. Henry took off his cap as he came in, and saluted the king respectfully. The Duke of York was with Henry at this time. Richard was very angry with the Duke of York, whom he had left regent of England when he went away, but who had made no resistance to Henry's invasion. So, as soon as he saw him, he broke forth in a perfect phrensy of vituperation and rage against him, and against his son, who was also present. This produced a violent altercation between them and the king, in which one of them told the king that he lied, and threw down his bonnet before him in token of defiance. Richard then turned to Henry, and demanded, in a voice of fury, why he was placed thus in confinement, under a guard of armed men.

"Am I your servant," he demanded, "or am I your king? And what do you intend to do with me?"

"You are my king and lord," replied Henry, calmly, "but the Parliament have determined that you are to be kept in confinement for the present, until they can decide in respect to the charges laid against you."

Here the king uttered a dreadful imprecation, expressive of rage and despair.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HENRY OF BOLINGBROKE--KING HENRY IV.]

He then demanded that they should let him have his wife. But Henry replied that the council had forbidden that he should see the queen.

This exasperated the king more than ever. He walked to and fro across the apartment, wringing his hands, and uttering wild and incoherent expressions of helpless rage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PONTEFRACT CASTLE, KING RICHARD'S PRISON.]

The end of it was that Richard was forced to abdicate the crown. He soon saw that it was only by so doing that he could hope to save his life. An a.s.sembly was convened, and he formally delivered up his crown, and renounced all claim to it forever. He also gave up the globe and sceptre, the emblems of sovereignty, with which he had been invested at his coronation. In addition to this ceremony, a written deed of abdication had been drawn up, and this deed was now signed by the king with all the necessary formalities. Proclamation having been made of Richard's abdication, Henry came forward and claimed the crown as Richard's rightful successor, and he was at once proclaimed king, and conducted to the throne. Richard was conducted back to the Tower, and soon afterward was conveyed, by Henry's order, to a more sure place of confinement--Pontefract Castle, and here was shut up a close prisoner.

Things remained in this state a short time, and then a rumor arose that a conspiracy was formed by Richard's friends to murder Henry, and restore Richard to the throne. A spiked instrument was said to have been found in Henry's bed, put there by some of the conspirators, with a view of destroying him when he lay down. Whether this story of the conspiracy was false or true, one thing is certain, that the existence of Richard endangered greatly the continuance and security of Henry's power. Henry and his counselors were well aware of this; and one day, when they had been conversing on the subject of this danger, Henry said,

"Have I no faithful friend who will deliver me from this man, whose life is death to me, and whose death would be my life?"

Very soon after this, it was known that Richard was dead. The universal belief was that he was murdered. There were various rumors in respect to the manner in which the deed was perpetrated. The account most precise and positive states that a man named Exton, who had heard the remark of the king, repaired at once to the castle of Pontefract, accompanied by eight desperate men, all well armed, and gained admission to Richard's room while he was at table. Richard, seeing his danger, sprang up, and attempted to defend himself. He wrenched a weapon out of the hands of one of his a.s.sailants, and fought with it so furiously that he cut down four of the ruffians before he was overpowered. He was felled to the floor at last by a blow which Exton struck him upon his head, Exton having sprung up upon the chair which Richard had sat in, and thus obtained an advantage by his high position.

It was necessary to make the fact of Richard's death very certain, and so, soon afterward, the body was placed upon a hea.r.s.e, and drawn by four black horses to London. Here it was left in a public place for some time, to be viewed by all who desired to view it. There were no less than _twenty thousand_ persons that availed themselves of the opportunity of satisfying themselves, by the evidence of their senses, that the hated Richard was no more.

The little queen all this time had been confined in another castle.

She was now about twelve years old. Her father, when he heard of the misfortunes which had befallen her husband, and of the forlorn and helpless condition in which she was placed, was so distressed that he became insane. The other members of the family sent to England to demand that she should be restored to them, but Henry refused this request. He wished to make her the wife of his son, who was now the Prince of Wales, but Isabella would not listen to any such proposals.

Then Henry wished that she should remain in England as the queen-dowager, and he promised that she should be treated with the greatest respect and consideration as long as she lived; but neither she herself nor her friends in France would consent to this. At length, after long delay, and many protracted negotiations, it was decided that she should return home.

The little queen, on her return to France, embarked from Dover. There were five vessels appointed to receive her and her suite. There were in attendance upon her two ladies of the royal family, who had the charge of her person, her governess, several maids of honor, and two French chambermaids, whose names were Semonette and Marianne. There were many other persons besides.

Isabella reached the French frontier at a town between Calais and Boulogne, and there was delivered, with much form and ceremony, to a deputation of French authorities sent forward to receive her.

She lived in France after this for several years, mourning her husband all the time with faithful and unchanging affection. At length a marriage was arranged for her with her cousin, a French prince. She was married when she was nineteen years old. She was very averse to this marriage when it was first proposed to her, and could only speak of it with tears; but, under all the circ.u.mstances of the case, she thought that she was not at liberty to decline it, and after she was married she loved her husband very sincerely, and made a very devoted and faithful wife. Three years after her marriage she had a son, and a few hours after the birth of the child she suddenly died. Her husband was almost distracted when he heard that his beloved wife was dead.

His grief seemed, for a time, perfectly uncontrollable; but when they brought to him his infant child, it seemed in some measure to comfort him.

THE END.