bled no further for schemes in which
they did not sympathise. When this memorial was presented to Charles
he broke out into fresh invective about the base ingratitude of the
Flemish: "Take back your paper," were his last words. "Make your own
answer. _Talk_ as you wish, but _do_ your duty." This was on July
12th. Charles had no further time to waste in argument. He was still
convinced that the burghers would, in the end, yield to his demands.

With a small escort Charles left Bruges, and reached Calais on July
14th, where he had been preceded by the duchess, eager to greet her
brother, who had actually landed on July 4th, with the best equipped
army--about twenty-four thousand men--that had ever left the shores of
England, and the latest inventions in besieging engines.

The expedition proved a wretched failure--a miserable disappointment
to the English at home, who had been lavish in their contributions.
Charles seems to have been put out by the place of landing. His own
plan is clear from the letter quoted. He wished the two armies of
Edward and himself to sweep a large stretch of territory as they
marched toward each other. The one thing that he objected to was a
consolidation of the two forces. Incapacity to turn an unexpected or
an unwelcome situation to account was one of the duke's most
deeply ingrained characteristics. He showed no inventiveness or
resourcefulness. He held his own army at a distance from the English,
much to the invader's chagrin, who was forced to march unaided over
regions rendered inhospitable by Louis's stern orders, and outside
of cities ready to hold him at bay. "If you do not put yourself in a
state of security, it will be necessary to destroy the city, to our
regret," was the king's message to Rheims, and the most skilful of
French engineers was fully prepared to make good the words.

Open hostilities were avoided. Edward camped on the field of
Agincourt, where perhaps he dreamed of his ancestor's success, but
no fresh blaze of old English glory illumined his path. He did not
proceed to Paris, there was no coronation at Rheims, no comfortable
reception within any gates at all, for Charles was as chary as Louis
himself of giving the English a foothold, though he advised Edward to
accept an invitation from St. Pol to visit St. Quentin. This, however,
proved another disappointment. Just as Edward was ready to enter,
the gates opened to let out a troop which effectually repulsed the
advan